When from the cloth the crumbs are taken,
They should upon the ground be shaken,
The little birds to feed.
This work may by a child be done,
Whose willing feet should always run
To serve in case of need.
It is not well even crumbs to waste,
Since birdies like to pick and taste
Wherever crumbs are found;
And boy or girl at open door,
With hearts aglow for birdies dear,
Can throw them on the ground.
In God’s own Word we all may see
That wastefulness can never be
As right or proper viewed:
Divine example there we find,
When Christ the Lord, so true and kind,
Had fed a multitude.
The scanty meal of fish and bread,
By His creative power was made
Enough to feed a host;
And yet He gave this order plain
“Gather the fragments that remain,
That nothing may be lost.”
Then, little reader, careful be,
For pleasant ‘tis a child to see
Of thoughtful deeds and words;
And when, as in a house well kept,
The crumbs are from the table swept,
Think of the little birds.
ML 09/30/1945