Said the robin to the sparrow: "Friend, I'd really like to know/why those foolish human beings rush about and worry so?" Said the sparrow to the robin: "Friend, I think that it must be/ that they have no heavenly Father such as cares for you and me".
Those words, familiar to many from childhood days, while simple, declare a message that the world needs, albeit unknowingly. The need for faith, for receiving it and both feeding it and exercising it, is all too apparent. In this week's theme, The mind of Christ", we have a timely reminder of the source and inspiration of the strong minded faith which Jesus expressed, and His constant willingness to give us that faith - a willingness to teach us how to apply it.
It is well worth setting aside a time to pray and mediate on Saint Paul's tribute to the strong minded way Jesus laid aside privileges that he might come into the world as truly man and God. Saint Paul as tribute to the strong mind of Christ in the Epistle to the Philippians (Chapter 2, verses 5-11): "He did not cling to His prerogatives as God's equal but stripped himself of all privileges - He humbled himself even to the extent of dying, and the death he died was the death of a common criminal."
As one thinks deeply about what Almighty God, the Lord of all time and space, did by his donning human nature, one realises that He literally emptied himself in order to achieve his mission of love for all the world:
When Jesus left his Father's throne,
He chose a humble birth;
Like us, unhonoured and unknown,
He came to dwell on earth.
So often, a simple story can declare profound wisdom. The little chat between the robin and the sparrow is like that a message for today's world. Through our belief in Christ's strong minded humility and generosity, we have increased confidence in the heavenly Father such as cares for you and me".
The sheer agony a widow knows after the children have "flown", the family home has been sold, and most of her cherished possessions dispersed, is but a pinprick compared to what Jesus suffered when, with strength of mind, He became poor for our sakes, so that we can know God does really care for us all.