The Canary

From the book “Prairie Rose” by Susan Kirby: “He was me own bird. One day gas seeped into the shaft. Dickie’s silence saved us. Ech! How the barins cried when I came through the door, Dickie’s cage a swingin’empty in me hand. Twas his own life he’d given, sparin’ ours.” Thomas held Captain Boyd’s gaze a long moment, then made the transition, saying quietly, “poison seeps into ever’man’s life, Captain. But we dinna haf to be hopelessly doomed.”

Early coal mines didn’t have ventilation systems so legend has it miners would bring a canary in a cage and hang the cage where the men could hear the canary. Since canaries’ are known to sing all the time, the miners knew if the singing ceased, it was time to get out of the mine because the canary had died from methane or carbon monoxide.

Thomas had a wonderfully, meaningful quote. All men have poison that seeps into their lives in the form of sin. Sometimes, it is plain to see but most of the time, it seeps in unexpectedly. However, like that canary, Jesus came into this world to die for our sins in our place so we can escape eternal death.

“Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.” I Peter 1:18-21 The Message