“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it” (Matthew 23:37).

When I was about 12, I visited my grandparents on their West Virginia farm. It was in the dead of winter and bitterly cold. My brothers and I shivered the night away in an unheated bedroom. So, early in the morning, I decided it would be warmer to get dressed and go into the living room and sit by the pot-bellied stove.

I walked out of the bedroom just as my grandmother was leaving for the chicken house. She bundled me up and off we went to collect eggs for breakfast. I was content to stand back and watch her do the job, until she turned to me and said, “Come git yore aig.”

Being a city girl, I have to admit that I was a little bit afraid of those big, fat chickens. But, not being one to defy my grandmother, I approached with as much bravery as I could muster. Following her instructions, I slid my hand under the chicken and received a shock. It was so warm under there! Immediately, my fear evaporated, and I closed my hand around that warm, protected egg.

The world is a cold place. Colder than that farmhouse bedroom in winter. There are so many fears, so many hurts, so much pain. Yet, like Jerusalem, so many fail to acknowledge the soul-warming comfort of the Christ.

How Jesus has gathered us together! In his church, we learn to protect each other, encourage each other, love each other in the same way he loves us. We are covered with the wings of his love.

Better than being under a chicken.

B. A. Oliver @ www.forthright.net