The Bird Man

For I will show you lessons from our history, stories handed down to us from former generations  

Psalm 78:2-3 (Living Bible)

“But don’t the trees seem nice and full?!”

Andy Taylor 

The words above are from the final line of an old Andy Griffith Show titled, Opie the Bird Man

The plot was a simple story about a young boy, Opie Taylor, who had accidentally shot and killed a bird with his slingshot. His father, Sheriff Andy Taylor, talked to Opie about how his careless act had sentenced the baby birds in the nest to likely die of starvation because he had killed their mama. Opie felt terrible.

Opie decided to raise the chicks, and eventually, had to set them free when they were able to fly. Opie had grown fond of the birds, and had learned a big life lesson about responsibility and consequences of his actions. Opie did not want to part with the birds, but he eventually set them free, and as they settled into the tree after a successful flight, Opie said, “The cage sure seems empty now”. But Andy responded, “But don’t the trees seem nice and full?!”

I was thinking of that the other day as I watched a tree in my back yard bursting with the sound of chirping birds. They were taking turns flying toward my feeder, then heading back to their nests in that tree.

Simple stories can teach large life truths. The Andy Griffith Show specialized in such stories, as did many shows in the 1950’s and early 1960’s. Those days are gone, but the concept remains.  Wholesome little stories can give powerful lessons.

We need more of them…

Prayer: Lord, help us to cling to encouraging stories, Amen