The big story is how the English peoples moved from paganism to Christianity. In one chapter Bede tells how a local king named Edwin became Christian. Gathered in a mead hall (a large building with a single room) with his soldiers and nobles, King Edwin listened to accounts of the new religion. As the log fire burned, a sparrow entered one side and quickly flew out the other side. Bede recounts how one councilor reflected that our life is like the flight of that sparrow.** We do not know its origin nor do we know where it goes as it disappears into the darkness. That reflection helped Edwin not only to embrace Christ, but to become a model king. Bede gives this summary of his reign... (October 5, 2014, Twenty-seventh Ordinary Sunday, Year A)
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