The paradox of the Do-Gooders

A little bird had not quite learned to fly but he managed, by flapping around madly in the nest, to dislodge himself and fall onto the ground a few yards from his nice big tree. It was tremendously cold and unable to fly to where it might get warmer, the little bird did what all little birds and little humans do he made a lot of noise hoping to attract the attention of a sympathetic passer by.

A nice brown cow was grazing nearby and hearing the pitiful cries went over to the little bird and seeing the little bird turning blue soon ascertained that the bird was cold.

The birds plight was now beyond any dignified solutions, so the nice brown cow planted a nice warm pad of nicely processed clover, she had no further use for, on the little cold bird covering him from head to claw.

The bird was now instantly warm and the loud cheeping stopped. He thanked the brown cow who walked contentedly back to the paddock to chew the nice green grass.

The little bird now nice and warm, began to feel hungry and the cheeping returned – in fact it became urgent, more urgent than the cheeping for warmth. Just then a nasty red fox hearing the noise came by to investigate. He too was hungry and pulled the warm little bird out of the cow pad and ate him.

The moral to this story is that those who want to drop it on you are not always out to hurt you, while those who pull you out of it are not necessarily out to save you. Also when you’re up to your head in it, it pays to keep your mouth shut. Life in this broken world is not entirely unlike the story of the little bird.

The psalmist said “All men are liars” and no doubt he was speaking from personal experience. Truth is the first casualty of humans doing anything. Those that take up arms are not always men of violence while those who demonstrate against war are not always men of peace.

Likewise those who see the human race as rotten to the core often have a great passion for people, while those who think we are basically good can’t stand them at all.

The reason that life is full of paradoxes is because the world has been turned upside down and inside out by the distortion of sin. That means that people who have both good intentions and Godly wisdom will inevitably be misunderstood. Such men and women are motivated not by what looks good but what’s best in the long run. If you are one of those be sure God knows and that’s all that matters.

“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Matthew 15:8)

“The LORD sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (1 Sam 16:7)