Once upon a time, many years ago; around the time that Laura Ingalls Wilder lived in the Big Woods, an elderly man lived among the trees, near Laura's family. He lived all alone in a little gray house made of logs.
The great, dark trees of the Big Woods stood all around his little cabin, just like they did around Laura's house. There, among the trees, wild animals made their homes. Only a few houses were built in the Big Woods. And the old man liked it that way. He enjoyed seeing the wild birds that lived by his little log cabin. He put out feeders to help the birds survive the hard winter weather that would come each year.
The old man went into town one day each week for his provisions. Each time he went, he kept to himself. He would speak to people only when it was necessary. He was a kind man, but life had hardened him, and made him bitter.
"Who is that old man?" new-comers to town would ask. "He's an old man who lives by himself in the Big Woods." would usually be the answer. "Why does he live all by himself out in the Big Woods?" they'd ask. And the reply from those who knew would be, "Many years ago he was a carpenter and did a lot of work helping people build their homes around here. He was married and his wife was expecting a child. They lived together in that little log cabin. They were happy living there. They would visit town and were friends with many people. His wife was very active in the church. But he wasn't raised to know anything about church or God. He would attend church only at Christmas, when he wife asked him to come along. One hard winter, just before Christmas day, as his wife was ready to deliver her baby, she took sick with a fever. He came into town seeking help, but by the time the help arrived, his wife and the baby had died. He took their loss very hard. He stopped helping people with his carpentry and he became a hermit."
The old man knew that people talked about him, but he didn't care what they said. And he didn't care if he ever talked to any of them again the rest of his life. Worse than that, he blamed God for taking his wife and child from him. And he vowed to never talk to God.
Now his life had become a routine of coming to town once a week, picking up foods and supplies, and returning home. He would put out seeds for the wild birds in the elaborate bird houses and feeders he had made for them. He felt that the birds were better friends than any person could be. So he fed them and watched them through a large picture window in his little cabin. And it seemed the birds knew that he was taking care of them. They would come by the hundreds to feed at this feeders. He would spend hours each day, watching from his wooden rocking chair. When he got hungry, he stopped watching and made himself a meal. Then he'd go back to watching till there was not enough light outside to watch anymore.
Each day was the same; he'd get up, do his chores outside and feed the birds. Then he'd make his breakfast. After breakfast he'd go out to feed his horse and cow in their barn. After that, he'd cut logs for firewood. He'd stack the firewood just outside the cabin door. Then he'd be ready for another meal. And after that, he'd retire to his rocking chair for the evening. And again, after his bird-watching, he simply go to bed.
This wasn't what he had hoped for his life, but he was content to live in this manner. But, he was still a lonely and bitter man. If it weren't for the birds, he'd not have any life at all.
One winter day, a couple weeks into December, it began to snow. Wind blew and snow fell. The storm had caught the old man by surprise. He hadn't made his way into town that week to get his supplies. "It can't last long", he thought. "I'll go to town when it stops snowing." But it didn't stop all day. It didn't stop the next day or for days after that. Soon over a week passed and he still wasn't able to get out for supplies.
Every day he went about his routine, cutting and stacking logs, feeding his horse and cow in their barn and feeding the birds. And every day more and more birds would arrive, seeking shelter and food. As he looked from his rocking chair, he'd tell them, through the widow, "I'm sorry, I don't have enough seeds to last you if this storm continues. You'll just have to wait till I can get more." After a while, they'd leave and then arrive the next morning to the small amount of seeds he'd leave in the feeders.
Things soon got wd dropping onto the snow. "Stop!" he yelled at them. "I don't have any food for you and I can't get out to help you!" He fell back onto the floor, cold and hungry himself. Soon he'd be no better off than the birds outside; for his firewood was gone, and he had eaten the last of his provisions.
He sat there, on the floor, just weeping at the sorry situation. "If only my wife was here, maybe we'd find a way! Why, oh why, was she taken from me?" It wasn't long before the sound of the birds hitting the window had stopped, as most of them lie freezing in the snow. "That's it, I can't take anymore!" he screamed. "What kind of a God would allow this to happen?"
He thought, "What can I do? Those poor little birds are just dying out there!" And it was then that he thought, "They don't understand me. They don't speak my language. They see me yelling at them, but they don't know what I'm saying. If only I could communicate with them in some way! If I could become a bird and speak to them, then they'd understand." At that very moment, he realized that he had found the real meaning of Christmas! "This is what they were trying to tell me at the church - God saw all his children in trouble and dying in their sins. The only way he could get them to understand how he wanted to help them was to become one of them! So he sent his son, Jesus, to become one of them!" But the old man realized that he couldn't become a bird and that they would die without God's help. And he also realized that he was about to die himself, without food and heat in his little cabin.
Coming to grips with these facts, made him do something that he had promised that he would never do. He began to pray! "Lord, help me! I've been so wrong for all these years. My wife and baby were gifts from you. If you allowed them to be taken from me, it was because you were trying to get my attention. I'm sorry I blamed you for taking them to only hurt me. I'm sorry I blamed other people for my loss. Please, God, make a way for me to get out of here. I want to live again. I want to make it up to you and to all the people who wanted to help me. Please, Lord!"
Just then he heard sleigh bells outside. At first he thought he was hearing things. But then he heard the muffled sounds of voices outside his door and the sounds of shoveling of snow. Soon a loud knock came on his door. "Are you in there?" a deep, loud voice resounded. "Yes, yes, I'm here! Please, come in!" he yelled back.
As the door swung open he saw a crowd of people from the town at his door. "We missed seeing you in town and thought you might be in trouble and came to help", one man said, as he stepped inside. The man was greeted with a hug from the weeping old man. "After the way I've treated you all these years, I didn't know you cared!" he cried. "Why of course we cared! And Merry Christmas!" His days had been so filled with worry about his birds and his own troubles, that he hadn't realized that it was Christmas morning!
Soon his little cabin was warm. There was food on his table and he had fellowship with new friends. His little birds were revived and fed once again. And from that point on, the old man was seldom alone, as he would look forward to his many visiting friends from town.
This is the lesson we can learn from this Christmas Fable: As the Bible tells us, in John chapter 3, verse 16 - Even though the people had turned away from God, he still loved the whole world so much, that he gave them his only begotten son, Jesus, and that by believing on him, they would have a new and restored life with God - for all eternity. Jesus came into the world of the lost, as a baby, born in a manger. He lived among men as a man. He gave up his life to pay for all of man's sins. And he now lives to draw all men to himself. And when we believe in him, he comes as a spirit, to live in us; to guide us and help us. And it all began at that very first Christmas morning, so long ago.
If you haven't accepted this wonderful gift that God has sent, it's not too late! Just surrender your will to his and invite Jesus into your life. Do it now - before the storms of life beat you down and take you away. There is hope!
He is your hope! As the wish is made at Christmastime, "Peace on Earth", I hope you'll understand that it's part of the gift from God, that comes into your heart and changes you that brings that peace. And with it, you'll be able to withstand the storms of life that come your way.
Merry Christmas! (Proverbs 3:5,6)
The Old Man in the Bib Overalls
