Stewardship Sunday (FBC #51)

A Murder of One by The Counting Crows

"There's a bird that nests inside you
Sleeping underneath your skin
When you open up your wings to speak
I wish you'd let me in"

Lately, I've been thinking about the Fall Blog Challenge and the difficulty to capture beautiful fall pictures now that the leaves are falling, and it's becoming more grey.  As I look for beauty in the grey, I can't help but notice the birds' (or squirrels'?) nests up in the trees.  They remain strong and sturdy even as the wind blows all the leaves away.  Lately the birds seem to be chirping a bit louder.  It's almost as if they are saying, "Here I am.  I haven't left yet."  

 

Amazingly enough we also talked about birds in church this Sunday even though it was "Stewardship Sunday" (or Pledge Sunday).  Our service calls it generosity Sunday, and instead of harping about the need for money, we listened to our resident bird expert talk about the Meadowlark.  It had to do with the willingness for people to go out and listen. 

He also shared this wonderful poem by Mary Oliver.

Meadowlark, when you sing it’s as if
You lay your yellow breast upon mine and say
Hello, hello, and are we not


Of one family, in our delight of life?
You sing, I listen.
Both are necessary
If the world is to continue going around
Night-heavy then light –laden, though not
Everyone knows this or at least
Not yet,


Or, perhaps, has forgotten it
In the torn fields,

In the terrible debris of progress
When he was finished, we also were asked, "How a I engaging in a generous life?"  Of course, we were asked to pledge to the church's operating budget and reminded of the importance of our contribution, but it was done with kindness (void of lecture).  Each year as we bring our pledges forward, we sing Pennies from Heaven.  "That's what storms were mad for; And you shouldn't be afraid for; Every time it rains it rains; Pennies from Heaven..."