Published August 27, 2010

---

We were late. We had been at a family party, and we needed to get back for another event. So we were – along with everyone else – hurtling along the freeway at less than legal speeds, knowing that if we just maintained that speed we would…just….make it.

The robin flew across the highway and ducked under my wheels. I saw the twisted body thrashing around on the pavement until another car went over it. And it was too late, even if I could have stopped, to bring back this jewel of creation before it expired.

It’s only one bird. But if I had been going slower, it would have had a chance.

Our Lord reminds us:

“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God” (Luke 12:6)

And although robins are pretty common, that bird may have had a mate, whom I left partnerless, trying to feed their brood alone. And all these single dead birds add up. Just remember the Passenger Pigeon. When the white man first arrived in North America, its flocks darkened the skies and took days to pass a single point. There were billions of them. But by overhunting them and destroying their forest habitat, we killed every single last one of them.

Every sparrow counts to God, and should matter to us. To salve my conscience, I plant another berry-bearing plant and seed-producing perennial for my wildlife garden and make a donation to the National Audubon Society.

And hope that my tally stops growing.

Slow down, John, slow down.

---