Can you tell the Difference?
Recently there has been an annoying advertisement on the radio. A voice-over artist states “Here is the call of the Chiffchaff…” There follows a snatch of bird song. “… and this is the call of the Willow Warbler.” More birdsong. “Can you tell the difference?”
The Chiffchaff and the Willow Warbler are the same size and the same colour. Even an expert, with a bird-in-the-hand, can get it wrong. But despite the physical similarity, one can easily tell the two species apart by what they do.
The Chiffchaff’s song is a plodding dirge on just two notes; it monotonously sings its name “Chiff, chaff, chiff, chaff…” The Willow Warbler’s song is a sweet, delicate aria, starting high and working down the scale. How did the advertisers get around this inconvenient fact? They played a truncated version of the Willow Warbler’s song twice, once for each bird. I kept a basket of out-of-date fat-balls near to hand, ready to hurl at the wireless every time the advert was aired.
You can not tell a good person from a bad person simply by their appearance; confidence tricksters exploit this fact. But you can tell them apart by what they do. Jesus made the same point by saying “A tree is known by its fruits” and he urged us to be “Wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” (Matt 7:15-20; 10:16).
With my prayers
Rev. Marc Catley
| Father God. Please watch over us and protect us from all evil. Give us wisdom in our daily lives, and grant us discernment whenever we cast our vote. Amen. |