PSALMS SERIES: WEEK 05 - PSALM 61 - HIGHER THAN I

When I was growing up, back in 1978, my family moved to a home in South San Jose. Our family was growing with the impending birth of my little sister, and so we found a larger home that we would stay in until I graduated from college.

It was a nice home, good neighborhood, some good friends. But for the first time in my life we lived by a pyracantha bush.  This bush was characterized by very small red berries. And thorns. And their dense thorny structure makes them particularly good in situations where an impenetrable barrier is required. And so in South San Jose the backyards often would display these plants.

Now here’s where I’m going with this description of the bushes in our backyard: while the pyracantha berries are apparently safe for human consumption, the seeds are mildly poisonous, containing a substances called cyanogenic glycoside, which - if consumed in large amounts - it can cause intoxication. So while humans probably wouldn’t consume toxic amounts (though apparently you can make JELLY out of it - go figure!), when birds eat the berries, watch out!!

As we found out one particular summer day. Mom was in the kitchen at the sink, which was right below our kitchen window overlooking the fence between our yard and our neighbor’s - which displayed a huge pyracantha bush. And all of a sudden: BAM! Something hit the window HARD.Scared my mom to death. I remember her 
scream. Not a minute later, there was another BAM! And it was then that Mom saw that these two birds were literally flying into the window. Shades of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds flashed through our minds. These two birds seemed to be trying to attack us! Mom freaked out and called dad. And we stayed OUT of the kitchen the rest of the afternoon, as I recall.

But then a friend from church, when they heard of the incident told us about how common it was for birds to get drunk off of the pyracantha berries, and then to see their reflection in nearby windows and attack the image in the window, thinking that they were seeing another bird in their territory.

They literally thought their reflection was their enemy.

Now I believe this illustrates an appropriate thought for us to consider today as we study the next Psalm in our series, because at times when we feel overwhelmed, attacked, in trouble, often it’s a consequence of our own doing.

So what do you do at those times; times where the enemy is YOU; times when you cannot blame anyone, really, except yourself?