“Put the word into practice and do not merely listen to it” (James 1, 22)
A stuffer captured a superb bird. Just as he was about to kill it, the bird
implored him: “Spare me, I have young nestlings. In exchange, I’ll give you
three simple but very useful pieces of advice.”
Stunned, the stuffer promised the bird its freedom if the advice was good,
and the bird said :
- Do not believe anything stupid.
- Never regret a good deed.
- Never try to achieve what is beyond your reach.
Recognising the wisdom of the advice, the man let go the bird. It flew to the
first branch of a tree and from there persisted: - Idiot! Why did you let me go? I have got a diamond in my belly. If you had
opened me up, you would have been rich for life!
The stuffer jumped up the tree to catch the bird. But the bird was already on
the second branch, then the third. Losing his balance, the stuffer fell and
broke both his legs. As he groaned, the bird came closer:
“You accepted my three pieces of advice and recognised their wisdom. You
could have followed them for at least five minutes!
- Do not believe anything stupid.
How could you believe that a bird had a diamond in its belly?
Like that man, we sometimes put our faith in utter nonsense today.
Example: It is said that during a violent storm the river began to overflow its
banks. In a nearby place of prayer, the people saw the danger coming and
started to leave to avoid the worst. The preacher urged them to stay where
they were because God was with them. The result was that those who stayed
were swept away by the water. - Never regret a good deed
Why did you regret giving me my freedom?
A company boss saw the brilliant performance of one of his executives and
regretted sending him on several training courses. In the end, he kicked him
out for peace of mind. The company’s results began to fall, and the manager
was dismissed by the board of directors. Meanwhile, after a few months of
unemployment, the executive found an even better position than his
previous one. - Never reach for what’s beyond your reach.
Didn’t you know that you cannot catch a bird by hand?
“The disciples had rowed twenty-five or thirty furlongs (that is, about five
thousand metres) when they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near
to the boat (Jn 6:19)”.
A man who called himself a pastor said he could do the same thing as Jesus.
He was taken to the middle of the sea and tried to walk on water. As a result,
he drowned. Did not he know that he should not think he was Jesus?
The superb bird finally said to the stuffer: “You men have invented radio,
television and now the social networks Facebook, Whatsapp, etc. You can
hear and see what is happening at the other end of the world at any given
moment, but you do not yet have a device that allows you to believe in your
heart what your mind recognises as right.”
We listen to the word of God every day, but what do we do with it?
Saint James tells us: “Put the word into practice, and do not merely listen to
it, deceiving yourselves with false reasoning”. (James 1:22)
The Word of God is the Word of God. Let us accept it as it is.
Let us not just listen to or read it; let us put it into practice.