Richard and Robert Sherman wrote what is deemed as Walt Disney’s favorite song – Feed the Birds. In the 1964 Disney hit, Mary Poppins, she sings of an old woman who sits on the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral selling bags of breadcrumbs to those who passed by. “Feed the birds, tuppence a bag.”
The old woman’s plight, to not only earn a meager living but to assure the beautiful birds of St. Paul’s were fed, drew tears to most every movie goer watching as she faithfully and humbly taught a valuable lesson. All Mr. Banks wanted, was for his children to save their money, to grow to be respectable and wealthy adults. But when Mary Poppins sang of the old woman who fed the birds, they quickly learned the importance of generosity over greed. Giving generously doesn’t mean giving all you have. It means giving the little that is necessary to meet a need and giving it with joy and compassion. Encouraging a friend who struggles, or being the strength for a person in need, feeding the homeless – it takes so little to meet a need. What takes so much is our innate desire for more. More food, more clothes, more games. Bigger homes, cars . . . deeper debt. We WANT so much – but truly require so little. One out of every five children go hungry – not just in foreign countries but right here in a land of wealth and prosperity. Daily thousands of young children are sold into trafficking both as labor and sexual slaves. Yet those who have so much, give so little. Instead of caring for the needs of the many, they worry about the desires of the one. We live in a time when political correctness overrides the greater good. When wealth is means over indulgence. And yet – our eyes become so focused on how much and how big, that we forget. . .it takes so little to really meet a necessary need like food, water, clothing. It only takes a fraction to make a change. An encouraging word last for decades. A gentle act of kindness digs deep into a heart and billows back out in greater acts. A heart of compassion fuels the love needed to make a difference in a life. So little means so much. Tauppence a day was all that was required to feed the birds. Tauppence and a little time. Look around you and scope out the necessities and then meet a necessary need. Your love, your compassion, your tauppence – whether it be in kind words, deeds or financial, can change a life. In the process your life is changed too. It takes so little to do so much. Start with your neighbor, your church, your community and give of yourself. Be the one that makes a difference. Start with a child from Compassion International.
So very, very true. Christ followers should among all people be the most responsive to reach the abused and depraved. It makes me think of Isaiah 61. “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek, he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.”
I wonder what brokenhearted, abused, and tormented people are within my reach? Thanks for challenging me today.
Thank you Debbie. I’d love to see us act on our generosity more than just talking about it.
Amen!! All too often, I fear we look to others to fulfill this calling instead of picking up the taking on the responsibility ourselves to give, to advocate, to serve. Blessings!