The Bowl
A few weeks ago, I came into the office of our office manager. I was at work early and noticed that someone had left a bowl of water on the floor. For a few moments, I wondered why someone didn’t put away their bowl and as I trying to decide whether I would do it or leave it for the owner. It was about that time that my judging heart was aware of a small sparrow under the desk pecking at the floor.

It took only moments to switch from the “who left the bowl monitor” to a companion of St. Francis of Assisi. I tried a few maneuvers that proved worthless to the goal. The poor bird now had to deal with not only being trapped in an unfamiliar space, but also with a would be do gooder who was scaring the heck out of it. Fortunately for both the bird and myself, a couple other colleagues entered the scene. For a while the poor bird flew around the office looking for some kind of relief from our good intentions.

After about ten minutes I went into my office and pulled out two boxes that I was saving to use in an upcoming move. We carefully placed the infamous bowl of water under one side of the box and waited for our unexpected guess to seek water. It didn’t take long before the sparrow went for the water and we were able to confine it. My colleague and I carefully carried the box with the sparrow out to an open-air courtyard.

In such a short period, so many things shifted. A bowl that was initially labeled someone’s thoughtlessness was really an effort to give an trapped creature comfort…a box that symbolized a big move became a bridge to freedom…

“Consider the lilies of the field…and the birds of the air…”