Seeing the nuisance through fresh eyes

Hickory nuts are not my friend. They fall loudly to the ground and, when they hit my roof, it sounds like a baseball has been dropped from 10,000 feet. My car top is dimpled with pockmarks where these demons have fallen from 40 feet above. Run over these devils with a lawnmower and your ankles will be attacked by the shrapnel of the fruit of the beautiful tree.

Squirrels are cute to some, but not to me. I’m a bit ashamed I have referred to them as “tree rats” in the past. I have a reason for that.

There was a time when I thought them to be adorable, but that was before they infested my attic and caused more than $4,000 in damage to wiring, alarm systems, and roof vents. Squirrels are not my friend.

One particular squirrel uses our front porch to torment me further. He dines there every morning, leaving a pile of broken hickory nut shells to be swept away after he clutters my stoop. No, hickory nuts and squirrels are not my friends.

But this morning, as I gazed out our front window at the customary pile of shells, there was a feast going on. Four different species of birds were dining on the shells, enjoying the fruit of the hickory nuts the squirrels had left behind. A verse of scripture came to mind, and I looked it up.

Matthew 6:26-27 explains what I saw. It said, “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?”

Worry? Cast it aside. Covid was real and I managed my life to avoid unnecessary risks, just like I try to do with other situations that might lead to uncalled-for dangers. This scripture isn’t just about God taking care of the birds. The hickory nuts, the squirrels, and the birds all have a place. More to the point, the squirrels and birds don’t fret. God provides for them, as He will for us.

I thought the leftover hickory shells were nothing but trash, a nuisance to be swept away. When I saw with new eyes, through a different lens, I saw God at work in our world. All of God’s creations, even the “tree rats,” are part of His divine creation, each one interdependent on all the others to provide at God’s direction.

The hymn “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” includes the lyrics, “I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free, For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” Be free.