“Did you see the way his mouth was open when you brought Scuffy (our cat) into the clinic? I was sure he wouldn’t live through the night,” said Stan, our veterinarian, the next day. “He had every symptom of the last stage of kidney disease, but this morning he’s standing, and hungry; his fur is glossy and his eyes bright. He’s probably the healthiest animal we have here right now!”

“You must have done a good job with him, Stan,” I said.

“I didn’t do a thing!” he answered. “Someone Else worked on that cat.”

“When I found him lying in the driveway in the rain, we all started praying a lot.” I said. “Well, your prayers are answered,” Stan replied. “You can take Scuffy home.”

This incident made a deep impression on our daughter as well as on Jack and me. When I told it to others, though, the reaction was mixed. One woman laughed to think that a cat would be miraculously healed, or even that we would pray for an animal.

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very airs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” ( Matthew 10:29)

Jesus talked to his people about sparrows to reveal to them the tenderness of God toward his people and toward toward all of creation, including sparrows and cats.

It seems to me that God’s mercy toward us is higher, wider and deeper than we’re able to imagine, and so we try to telescope it into our own ways of imagining God and Jesus, while He is constantly asking us to drop the telescope and find him in our real world, and in our own souls. “Don’t be afraid” is an invitation to open more doors in our characters to receive the Life that is lived by God Himself.

Last week we discovered a nest of cardinals in our back yard. One of the new hatch-lings had fallen to the ground and we returned it to the nest that contained four other hatch-lings with tiny wide open beaks. I found myself praying for them, as their very survival seemed fragile at best. The nest was in a small youpon tree and very accessible.

I was reminded that despite their brilliant, eye-catching color, the cardinals have survived and thrived for many millennia in a changing world. The God of the sparrows was their God as well as mine, and I and all my species are worth many cardinals in “our Father’s care.”

Love in Him,

Prue