Articles
Three House Finches
R E F L E C T I O N S
Thoughts on nature and the Christian faith
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“Now all the Athenians and th
there would spend their time
telling or hearing something
Do birds gather together for conversations? These three house finches surely seemed to me to be engaging in some kind of communication for quite some time. The two females were the most vocal, but all three were speaking about something. I don't happen to know the language of finches so, being without an interpreter, I can only speculate. I was fairly close to them with only the lens of my camera uncovered, so maybe they were trying to figure out what sort of creature was making those clicking noises they undoubtedly heard. We humans tend to gather with like-minded folks to discuss things also. We are like the people the apostle Paul wrote about in Athens who were commenting on his preaching about Jesus and his resurrection. Some appeared to understand, but most just dismissed Paul as a quack delusional preacher, just the source of the latest fad that was going around. Things haven't changed much today. We like to huddle with our friends and discuss the latest news. And, like the Athenians in Paul's day, we usually dismiss most of what we hear as unworthy of our serious consideration. But truth deserves more than a casual dismissal. It is important to listen to many voices and to weigh them seriously. I now hold deep convictions about certain theological positions that, upon first hearing, I was tempted to dismiss without proper scrutiny. Enter into discussions with a variety of people on a variety of topics. Weigh carefully what you hear, allowing scripture to be your guide. Learn to discern truth when you hear it. What is new is not always what is true, but what has been tested by time usually is. - John
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