Bird by Bird

In her iconic 1994 chronicle Bird by Bird, Anne LaMott narrates a story from her childhood about her brother who had procrastinated starting his huge school report about birds.  As in any act of putting off the inevitable, suddenly it was the night before it was due.  He sat slumped at the table, defeated and overwhelmed by the immensity of the work now before him.

He was ready to give up all together.  It was an impossible task.  Her father came up beside him.  How in the world can I do this? her brother lamented.

"Bird by bird," her father replied.

Over the years, I have heard that story repeated in a variety of situations when drowning beneath a massive impenetrable load of work.  Just take it one bird at a time.  Take one step and then another.

In this time of covid, many are overwhelmed by the hard labor at hand, working from home, logging uncountable hours in essential tasks in hospitals, or taking care of young kids and balancing instruction and homework for schoolchildren.  Too much.  Where do I even start?  Bird by bird.

But others are hunkered down at home, overwhelmed as well, not by the immensity of work but by the lack of it.  Little personal interaction, unemployed, empty days fading from one into another. What day is it?   There is nothing to do.

And again, the best approach is bird by bird.  Take one step and then another.  Do one thing, just one tiny step, and another will rise to take its place.  And in my experience, one step guides me to the next.

...do what your hand finds to do,
     for God is with you.

                   1 Samuel 10. 7

It may not be what we particularly want to do, but there is always something within reach, a starting point, even what appears just a necessary action.  What is nearest, what is proximate, what is immediate, and what can we be working toward?  Those steps and tasks may not be deemed significant, but they may indeed be worthy of attention.  God never intends for waiting to be a passive verb, but a time of preparing, equipping, and pulling weeds long neglected.  The next thing is already here today.

What new thing should I do?  What should I do differently?  What should I do faithfully?

"Beware of allowing yourself to think that the shallow concerns of life are not ordained of God;  they are as much of God as the profound."  (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest)

As we respond to God's leading, He changes our hearts and enlarges our vision.  Perhaps this is not such an empty wasteland after all, but a new canvas appearing in the ordinary, a place of His faithfulness and redeeming.  God changes the landscape, even right where we are.

Step by step.  Task by task.
    Obedience by obedience.
    Even in the hard stuff
        that seems daunting.
God reveals His glory,
       but not just at the end of this.
Because every day is a story of God's faithfulness.
And we are surrounded by His grace.

Bird by bird.