03/18/2004: "The Little Brown Bird"

By Carol J. Warren

Once there was a very small fluffy round brown bird. He was rather ordinary, as a matter of fact there was nothing special about this brown bird to look at it. But the little brown bird had a tremendous desire to worship God. Not just with ordinary songs but the little brown bird wanted to be something special for the Lord. He wanted to sing in a way no one had ever sung before just for the Lord. He wanted to be the best of the best for the Lord.

He sang to the Lord all the time. Not to be seen and heard by the other birds, truthfully he did not care what they thought, but because he loved the Lord so very much. But no matter how hard he tried he just could not make his voice sound as pretty as most of the other birds. Not only that the other birds were much prettier, bigger and more colorful. There were red birds, blue birds, multicolor birds, even white birds, how could he ever hope to stand out against all these birds and their beautiful loud voices.

It wasn’t that he wanted to be the biggest and the best in competition, it was just that he loved the Lord so much and wanted to be special to Him and do for Him what no other bird could. So he would fly around trying to find a tree where there were no other birds so he could stand out at least a little bit but no matter where he went there were other birds. He even went up into the mountains but there were still lots of birds.

Finally he decided the only way he could stand out was to fly somewhere by himself and sing while he flew, but he was very small so he couldn’t fly very high or very far and it made it very hard to sing. But since it was the only thing he could think to do to be special that is what he did.

“Oh Lord,” said the little brown bird, “I do so want to be special just for you and I love you so very much, couldn’t you just let one of your angels come under me and lift me a little higher so I could sing closer to you and maybe even help me sing better for you.” But no angel came.

Finally the little bird became so discouraged and weary of trying so very hard that he just lay down in the snow. He felt so cold and numb; he would just sleep he thought. But he did not sleep, the little brown bird died.

“Oh this is wonderful,” thought the little brown bird. “I have died and gone to heaven and I know in heaven I will be different.” But much to the little brown birds surprise he was not different. He was still a very small plain ordinary brown bird. He tried to sing thinking; “surely I will have a golden voice in heaven.” But his voice was very much the same.
He was so sad and dejected that he lay right down on the ground of heaven and began to cry. Soon he began to feel a drop of water hit his head and then another and another. “It is not suppose to rain in heaven,” thought the little brown bird. But when he looked up it was not rain but a man was standing over him weeping with him, he did not have to ask who it was, he knew it was Jesus.

“Why are you crying?” asked the little brown bird surprised.

“Because I love you and you are so sad.” Jesus replied. “Why are you so sad?” Jesus asked.

The little brown bird sighed the biggest sigh. Jesus tapped His shoulder indicating that the bird should come sit on His shoulder, so he flew up and perched on the Lord’s shoulder. He sighed again. “All I ever wanted on earth was to be special for you Lord.” He said sadly shaking his head. “Not so people could see but just so that I could bless you in a very special way. But I was never able to because every bird was prettier and sounded better. So when I died in the snow and went to heaven, I just knew I would be changed so I could really bless you. I thought I would be big with pretty colors and have a golden voice to praise you with, but look at me I am just the same. Now I will never be able to be special for you and that is all that matters to me, blessing You.”

The Lord began to chuckle, “Silly little brown bird, I do not care how big you are. What is that to Me? I do not care how colorful you are, have you seen the colors of heaven? There is nothing to compare with them. I do not care how beautiful your voice is, the angels sing prettier than anything on earth could even begin to imagine. That is not what matters to Me.” The Lord said looking at Him lovingly.

“What matters to Me,” the Lord said, “is that you sing from your heart. That you sincerely and truly love Me. That you do not sing to impress others but only for Me. You see,” said the Lord, “I do not listen to words or to the sound of the voice, all I can hear in heaven is your heart. It speaks to Me much louder and more beautifully than any voice ever could. Indeed your selfless singing has blessed Me more than you know.”

“It has?” the bird asked, “Really?”

“Yes,” Jesus said laughing. “Look at yourself. Where are you sitting? You are on my shoulder right next to My ear. Do you see anyone else on My shoulder? No! I have given that position only to you because of your sincere loving heart.”

The little bird was stunned. He was sitting on the Lord’s shoulder at the Lord’s invitation and on top of that just as he had always wanted there was no else there. The Lord gave the position to only him. Not because of his beautiful voice, his size or plumage but because of his heart. The little bird was very happy. This was everything he had ever wanted.
Then he saw the Lord looking off in the distance. He seemed so very unhappy. The little bird looked too but all he saw was where he used to live and all the other birds that lived there. “What is it Lord?” The little brown bird asked, “Is something wrong?”

The Lord’s head drooped and He let out a sigh. “Do you see those other birds down there? The ones you use to know.”

“Yes, Lord I see them.” Said the little bird still puzzled.

“They think they are worshiping Me and doing as good job of it.” The Lord said sadly, “Can you hear them?” He asked the little bird.

The bird strained to hear but he could hear nothing. He could see there beaks open and close so he knew they were singing but he could not hear them. “Why can’t we hear them?” asked the little brown bird.

“Because they do not know how to sing from their heart as you do.” Said the Lord. “I can only hear what is from the heart. They think they are doing well but they are just showing off their voices to their friends. Some of them are very vain and others just don’t know any better. Many of them will not even make it to heaven because they don’t even know Me, they just know about Me. They have never given Me their lives.

For the first time the little plain brown bird looked at the beautiful birds with pity and compassion. “Surely something can be done Lord?” The little brown bird said.

“There is no one down there to teach them how to sing from the heart.” The Lord said sadly. “No one to even give them a chance.”

The little brown bird looked around him. This was everything he had ever wanted, to be right next to the Lord and to be special to Him. He really did love the Lord and he could see that this was hurting the Lord to see that these other birds didn’t even have a chance to learn to love Him from the heart. He looked one last time at the birds and then at the Lord. He knew what he must do and he was glad he could do something special for the Lord. “I will go back.” Said the little bird quietly at first. “I will go back and teach them. Only,” he hesitated, “they will not listen to me. I was nothing special there on earth that they would listen to me.”

“You leave that part up to Me.” The Lord said joyfully, “I was hoping you would be willing to help them but I wasn’t going to make you do it. You had to want to do it. I will save this shoulder just for you My little one.” The Lord said pleased with the little bird’s willingness to sacrifice for the Lord. “No one else will ever have it but you. It will be waiting for you.”

This made the bird feel very special and not so afraid to go back. The next thing the little brown bird knew it was very cold. He opened his eyes. He was back in the snow. He was a little cold and numb but soon shook it off. When he thought of all that had just happened his heart began to overflow with love and gratitude to the Lord. So he just shut his eyes and began to sing.

It wasn’t just any song; it was a song of pure selfless love from the heart. He wasn’t looking at the other birds and he didn’t care who was around him, he just shut his eyes and sang to the Lord. Soon the other birds began to hear him. They couldn’t seem to turn away from it. There was something about it; that they couldn’t put their finger on. It was different. It wasn’t the voice, or the tune but something about the way he sung drew them to him to listen. He seemed to exude peace like a big warm hug.

When the little brown bird finally opened his eyes the tree was full of birds just listening to him, wrapped in his song. There was silence for a minute. The little brown bird had never had the other birds pay any attention to him before, he didn’t know what to expect.

“How do you do that?” said a large cardinal.

“Yes,” said the blue jay, “how do you do that?”

“Do what?” asked the little brown bird.

“Come, come now,” said the stately pigeon, “don’t be coy with us. There is something very special about your singing. It uh, it…” he hesitated not quite knowing how to put the effect into words.

“It makes you feel close to God.” Cried the sparrow.

“It makes you feel peaceful.” Cooed the dove

“So,” said the pigeon again speaking for them all, “what is it that you do to make this feeling happen with your song?”

So the little brown bird told them about singing from the heart. He told them that the Lord could not hear them unless they sung from the heart with pure love because the Lord only hears the heart.

Some of them sneered at him, “That’s ridiculous. If you don’t want to tell us your secret just say so but don’t give us such a bed time story as though you were talking to foolish little children.”

But some of them could not forget that wonderful feeling and they knew it had to have something to do with the Lord. “How can we learn to sing like that?” they asked.

The little brown bird thought about the question a few minutes before he answered, as though he were listening. “Musical instruments have to be tuned,” said the little bird. “But you could never get by with just doing it once. Moisture or temperature changes affect the musical instrument so you are constantly tuning it. So it is with our singing. To be able to sing from the heart we must be in tune with the Lord, but the things of this world and the cares of this life so easily get us out of tune that we must continually return to Him to be tuned again and again.”

He paused to let that soak in. “I have spent my life tuning in to the Lord and setting my heart to be in tune with His. If you will stay with me and listen to me worship you will begin to learn how to tune in and soon you will be able to tune your hearts with the Lord on your own. But for now start by singing with me and listening.”

Some of the birds left. “Foolishness and poppycock,” they said but others were ready to learn. They were eager to draw near to the Lord like the little bird with a sincere heart. Some of them were much better singers than the little bird and all of them were bigger and prettier of plumage but that carried no weight when it came to worship as they began to learn and all of them began to develop a deep respect for the plain little brown bird.

The little brown bird lived to be much older than little birds usually live to be. All of his life he sang to the Lord from his heart and taught others to worship by example and helping them worship from the heart. Not all of the birds learned but at least some of them did and they would not have if not for the little brown bird.

The little brown bird was quite old now. One day as he was flying in the sky and singing he simply disappeared. He never came back. The Lord told him that He loved him so much that He simply couldn’t bear to be away from the little bird any more, so the Lord just let the little bird fly on home to heaven to perch on His shoulder.

The little bird was so very happy perched on the Lord’s shoulder. Again he saw the Lord looking at the birds of earth. He could hear some of them now and they were teaching others. Soon there would be many, many birds worshiping from the heart. The Lord cleared His throat as though to say listen.

“Do you see all of those birds worshiping from the heart?” The Lord asked. “You did that My friend.”

“Yes.” The little bird said humbly, “Thank you for working through me.”

“Where will they go when they come here?” asked the Lord, “all these birds that worship from the heart now.” He said looking at the little bird.

The little bird thought about how special it had been to be the only one on the Lord’s shoulder but now He knew the Lord loved him, he no longer had to be the most special or the best. He did not have to be the only one on the Lord’s shoulder. “Your shoulder is very big,” said the little brown bird, “there is room here for many birds. Wouldn’t it bless my Lord more to have many birds on His shoulder singing in harmony like a symphony of love for You than just one little brown bird.” He paused and looked knowingly at the Lord. “I don’t have to be the only one anymore, as long as I am near You and I please You, I am happy.” He said with a twinkle in his eye.

“Indeed I am pleased,” said the Lord, “for now you know it was never about how much you love Me but how much I love you. It is your shoulder. I gave it to you. I would never share it without your permission but I am very pleased that you trust My love enough to share it.” The Lord said smiling warmly. “I cannot think of a greater blessing that a growing symphony of love on My shoulder near My ear.”

It wasn’t long before the Lord’s shoulder was full of birds singing in perfect harmony from their hearts to the Lord. But the one closest to His ear is the little brown bird. Because of his selfless love and worship the symphony will continue to grow in number. But you know there is still room for more.

The angels gather around to listen to wondrous sound. It isn’t as pretty as their voices and they aren’t as big or as beautiful but there is just something about a song of pure love from the heart that touches those who hear it.