Wisdom better than strength!

Anna and I were at the Bilga hospital, near Ludhiana to visit Ethan, Amy and Arpit a few weeks back.

Just before the dusk, while on a walk beside the rial track, I noticed sparrows flying-in in formation  to a berry tree and flying out after a while. During this short spell when they were at the tree, they consumed the berries and left the branches almost bare of any berries.

There were at least five formation of sparrows I noticed arriving and departing after their evening meal.

While walking back home, a parable about a poor man from the book of Ecclesiastes (9.13-18) came to my mind. A king came to siege a small city and constructed fortress around it. There was a poor wise man in the city, who delivered the city form the king by his wisdom. So the writer of the book concluded that, 'wisdom is better than strength'! But he also concluded that, 'the wisdom of the poor man is despised and his words are not heeded'!

The wisdom of the sparrows kept coming back to me several times during the last few weeks. They needed a resting place and feed during their flight. They found it, which is not favourite spot of their predators!

Each of us is called to be wise like a serpent and innocent like a dove! This applies to how we exercise our time and talents! It calls for judicious living and vicarious service

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)