The Empty Nest

 

The empty nest. I’ve been carefully skirting round one of the apple trees, where a female blackbird sits hour after hour, day after day, on her clutch of eggs. Yesterday I was horrified to find she’d flown, leaving five beautiful blue eggs lying unprotected.

I felt so sad, wondering if the cat had found her, or another predator. But later Don went out and she had returned. Maybe she needed a pit stop, or a snack. She had to leave the nest unattended for some reason, trusting or hoping that nothing would interfere with the welfare of her babies.

Relinquishment. The devotional app I use has focused this week on the story of Hannah, and today was the day when she gave Samuel to God. He was only three years old. I thought about my three-year-old grandchildren, and how challenging it would be to give them to God. Sounds safe enough – entrusting them to God’s care – but in practice, to give them into the care of an elderly man who didn’t know they were coming, and trust God to care for them through him: I doubt I could do it.

The prayer of relinquishment. Action proving faith.

The next reading I did was looking at the story of Abraham, called to Mount Moriah to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac. The commentator opened my eyes to the way that story prophetically parallels the story of Jesus, down to the carrying of wood on the sacrificial back, in the vicinity of Mount Moriah. It’s amazing the way the old and new testaments reinforce the same message. God’s love for his world. God gave us his only, beloved son, knowing that we would not cherish him but would brutally murder him. How deep the Father’s love for us.

The grace of relinquishment.

To hear one of these stories today would have been challenging. To hear – coincidentally, as the second reading is not tied to a calendar date – two such stories on the same day wakes me up. I sense God nudging me, challenging me, maybe even shouting at me, to relinquish my beloveds and entrust them totally into his care.

His grace is enough. I can only let go through God who enables me. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Nothing is impossible for God.

I may need to print this reminder out…