There are some stories that stick with you, increasing in significance and meaning as you get older and have a little more understanding.
It is amazing to me how what we often label “children’s stories” present timeless truths in practical ways that can provide some perspective for current realities.
Two that seem particularly useful in my life revolve around chickens. One is “The Little Red Hen,” but the one that has been running through my head most recently is the story of “Chicken Little.”
Most of us are familiar with the basic plot, the main character and the refrain of the story. A chicken named Chicken Little is out enjoying a day in the woods when suddenly an acorn falls on her head. Failing to see the acorns on the ground around her, Chicken Little comes to the conclusion that the sky is falling.
She is so convinced and concerned about this reality that she heads off and tells all of her friends, communicating the terror of her experience and convincing them that the sky is falling.
There are many different versions of this story, a fact of which I was unaware until doing some research for this article, and from here, the story branches off. Some have a happy ending with the frightened fowl escaping certain death at the hands of a sly fox and realizing the world isn’t coming to an end. Others end on a decidedly darker note with the chicken and all of her frightened friends meeting their end as the fox enjoys a several course meal.
Whichever rendering you have heard or may prefer, the moral of the story remains the same: Don’t panic, this need not be the end.
While the words may be different, the message we seem to be hearing early and often these days feels eerily similar to that of Chicken Little. In a variety of ways and through a host of mediums, we are receiving the clarion call, "The sky is falling."
Given all of the difficulty and discomfort of 2020, it’s easy to see why so many are at least entertaining the idea. We haven’t just had an acorn hit us on the head. We’ve felt the crushing weight of the whole tree bearing down on us. Though the discomfort be disorienting, we must take courage and carry on. Life still happens, even in the valley of the shadow of death, and we have to find a way to make the most of it.
Let’s go back to the story for a moment, though, shall we. I just recently learned of the darker telling of the story of Chicken Little. I found it incredibly profound and ironic that Chicken Little’s fear of the impending end actually brought it about for her and her friends. The discomfort of one moment determined the direction their lives took.
I find that to be undeniably the case for many of us today. We need to be careful not to allow our discomfort to dictate our actions.
Allow me to be clear, this is not a call to rebel against current regulations or recommendations. It’s not intended as a reprimand to the medical establishment. Quite to the contrary, actually. An extra element of caution is wisdom at times like these. I would argue that had Chicken Little acknowledged the actual problem, she could have donned a hard hat and gone on with life.
Spouting uninformed impressions and half-truths, however, is less than helpful. We don’t need to make the issue something it’s not, but ignoring it altogether is equally unhelpful.
One of the questions I seem to be fielding early and often in recent months is “Do you think this is the end of the world?” Honestly, my answer today is the same as it would have been before all of this nonsense began: I don’t know and neither does anyone else.
In the Gospels, Jesus warns that there will always be rumors of the end of the world, but he also notes that no one will know until it happens. Based on what I see in the Bible, this isn’t it. The foretelling of the end in Scripture, however, is never intended to drive us to fear the end, but to encourage us to live boldly in the present.
It reminds me of a song written by singer-songwriter and son of Seymour Steven Wilson Jr. He sings, “And I read the holy books and I poured through the pages. Upon a closer look, I had a revelation. Yeah, I noticed there’s a trend. The world keeps spinning. We’ve been talking ‘bout the end ever since the beginning.”
In the end, however, I think the message of his song is found in the bridge. Every day, the sun rises is a new beginning, and we need to find the courage to do something meaningful with what’s before us.
The Rev. Jeremy Myers is the lead pastor of First Baptist Church in Seymour. Read his blog at jeremysmyers.com. Send comments to [email protected].