Unity in Diversity

It’s amazing what you can learn from your own front lawn. I was sitting watching the grass grow on that first very hot day of Spring. It was evening, and the birds were taking advantage of our bird-feeder. A whole array of birds came and went. It’s fascinating to see the pecking order between species of birds. Grackles and Blue Jays seem to have the upper hand.

When Blue Jay swoops on to the scene, the smaller birds head for nearby branches, until they are sure they are not going to be supper themselves. They do have legitimate fears. I once watched in amazement when a Blue Jay pounced on a sparrow, killed it, and began to peck away at its flesh. Until that moment, I thought Blue Jays was a good name for a baseball team.

In the Spring time, before we have any gardens they can ruin, we let the chickens have the run of the whole yard. Not to mention the back porch. We have little trade marks up there to show just how relaxed they are on our back porch. It’s really interesting to watch them run free of their enclosure, and start scratching through the leaves still left from Autumn. Delectable slugs and bugs all over the place. Makes great eggs!

I was reading at the front window. I glanced out again, and to my amazement, there was a mixture of birds I had never seen before. Here’s what I saw: three grackles, a red-winged black bird, several sparrows, a male cardinal and yes, a chicken. Others joined them later, a cowbird, some mourning doves and two more chickens. By then I was already writing, and the camera was out of reach. You’ll just have to take my word for it.

Here were a good variety of colours, sizes and cultures. Mourning doves live in the great big spruce hedge at the edge of our property. Doves can be found with nests in both our row of pines, and the spruce. Sparrows live in the vines on the side of our house. We don’t have an address for the grackles. And of course, the chickens live in the chicken coop in the barn. Every tribe has its own home. But when it comes to being fed, they come out of their self-imposed ghettos and eat happily and calmly together.

Unity in diversity. I’ve seen less unity in some families, and in some churches. Very unlike one of the churches mentioned in the New Testament. I refer to the church in Antioch. Look at Acts 11:19-20

“Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the LORD Jesus.

They were a mixed lot of people. Later, in that same chapter we read in Acts 11:26

“And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”

The term Christian was first used about the people of Antioch for the simple reason they followed and lived out the teachings of Jesus, thus - Christians. Unity should be one of the hallmarks of all Christians, but some carry the name, without living up to the name. In Psalms 133:1

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”

Then, in his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul wrote that the church should live in love and ends his exhortation in Ephesians 4:3 saying they should be:

“Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Most of the birds on my front lawn know that!

So, when you come together to be fed in your local church fellowship, try to live up what the Bibles says, or at least what the birds demonstrate on our front lawn at the feeder.

Being a ‘bird brain’ isn’t all bad.