Monday, October 26, 2009

Barn Swallows

Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest. (Proverbs 26:2)

Two images came to my mind as I read this verse today: visiting my uncle’s farm and an Alfred Hitchcock movie called The Birds. The images reminded me of the truth of this verse, as a person of integrity does not need to fear the accusations of others. However, this does not mean that he or she does not take appropriate, prudent actions to make sure that there is no ground for them. Let me explain.

I watched the classic Hitchcock movie as a boy and was terrified of birds – especially cawing crows and tiny, darting barn swallows. If you’ve never seen the film, it is a case of nature gone wild, taking revenge upon mankind. Images of birds swarming and pecking away at person kept me looking over my shoulder for many years.

The other image is my uncle’s barn, a place where I spent hours building forts and secret hideouts in the hayloft with my cousins. It was a place where I had to deal with my fears and where I learned a valuable lesson.

The lesson was this: since barn swallows feed on insects in flight, the one way to make sure that they don’t come near to you is to make sure mosquitoes and other bugs don’t come near to you. A simple application of insect repellent helped to ensure that you wouldn’t have a swallow dive-bomb towards your face, veering off at the last second.

Integrity is the insect repellent that wards off the undeserved curse. It is not that accusations or verbal persecution will never come, but it won’t stick when a person’s reputation is one of trustworthiness in their words and deeds.

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