I’m really quite a well-built bird. In fact, I’m embarrassed to admit that I weigh a lot more than many of the birds in the garden. I love nothing more than to tuck into my food pots which always have a never-ending supply of seeds and dried fruits. I’m really very fortunate in that I never go hungry.
I would probably end up as a really fat parrot, if it wasn’t for the fact that my diet is pretty healthy. I eat a carefully blended mix of seeds, grains, sunflower hearts, dried chillies, banana chips and fruit. In fact, the only unhealthy things that I ever get to eat are usually items that I’ve stolen off my owner’s plate. Things like chips or biscuits. But as I usually get banished when this happens, I don’t do it very often, and so I stay well-built but healthy.
But I’m not sure that the same can be said for my owner and his wife. They don’t always cook themselves “the right” sort of food. They sometimes resort to ‘ready meals’ which are full of flavourings, artificial colouring, preservatives, salt and saturated fats. These meals fill a hole at the time and provide them with a quick fix for their hunger, but what are they doing to their long-term health and wellbeing? I’m sure that if they ate like I do, they’d soon sprout feathers and wouldn’t have to wear clothes…
Yes, all you humans should seriously think about the type of fuel that you use to propel yourselves through life. Because ‘ready meals’ aren’t the worst of it. Some humans fuel themselves on alcohol and drugs and cigarettes, which will ultimately cause them great harm. But there’s also another great anomaly. Because even when humans do eat healthily, a great many of them will continue to feel hungry, restless and unfulfilled. And there’s a simple answer to this problem; it’s because they are dissatisfied with their worldly existence and they want something more, -something that goes beyond what everyday food can offer. And it’s these humans that have discovered that they not only need to feed their stomachs every day but that they also need to nourish their souls. Yes, everyone needs to live on spiritual food as well. To be in touch with their Creator. To know that their presence in this world isn’t simply down to some extraordinary fluke of nature but was planned all along. That they are the product of a Master Craftsman who offers a reason, a purpose and an end destination to the lives that they are currently living. And to find this spiritual food, we all have to do rather more than a spot of cooking (or in my case, nibbling). We have to actively seek out God on a daily basis, because He’s out there waiting to become a part of our lives. And when we’ve been spiritually fed, then nothing else seems to matter. We’ve taken onboard the most energising and life-giving fuel of all which can power us all the way to eternal life.
So says this simple, plump, parrot as he gazes into his seed pot….
“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry…’”
(John 6:35a)
“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life…” (John 6:27a)
Please Note:
My owner is about to go off on another temporary migration so I won’t have anyone to type my blogs again until Wednesday 30th August. At least it gives me the chance to gorge myself on more “spiritual food!”
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