How the Swallows Returned Home

It was a beautiful summer Sunday afternoon; many took the opportunity to walk in the fields to view the future harvest. Farmer Petrash was also among those who were getting ready to go out. Methodius entered just as he was putting on his coat.

Petrash was not indifferent, although he preferred to appear that way, to the fact that the servant of his neighbor showed so much kindness to his son, for during the winter he had taught him to read and write fairly well. He was a proud farmer, and was sorely displeased that his son must remain so ignorant: therefore the visit of Methodius was very pleasing to him. He knew that the visit was intended for his son, but he wanted to have a talk with him also. He offered him a seat and seated himself.

“Sammy will come presently,” he said to excuse his son’s absence. “He went out somewhere and you know it takes him a long time before he returns.”

“It is better anyway,” smiled the young man. “It pleased me very much to find you alone, neighbor, and to see that he is not here. Let us have a consultation together about something that has been on my heart for a long time.”

The farmer wondered what kind of a consultation the young fellow might want to have with him.

“Well then, what do you want?”

“Have you considered what will become of your only son in the future?”

The man, surprised, shrugged his shoulders. “A beggar!” he exclaimed dryly. “Can I help that? Well, I shall leave him his portion, but what will he do with that? He will never become a farmer.”

“That is what I think myself. I have heard also that you want to take a son-in-law into the house. As long as Sammy has his mother and you, his life will be endurable, but after that, when you shall be gone, he will be left to the good and bad graces of the others, and they may not treat him well. And he is your firstborn son, your only son.

“Why do you tell me that?” The farmer leaned his head in the palms of both hands. “Do you think it does not torment me whenever I look at him? What is he in this world for, anyhow?”

“He did not ask to come into the world!” seriously answered the young man. “You, neighbor, as a father have the least right to speak thus. Since God gave him life, He surely has also some kind of work for him on this earth. But you also gave it to him; therefore it is your duty to help him do some work.”

“For you it is easy to talk since you are healthy; but what shall I do with him?”

“If you want to do something for your son, I would like to give some advice.”

“Gladly; just tell me.” The man gripped the hand of the young fellow in his own.

“You live here on the highway. All the people from the surrounding territory pass by. Build an addition on yonder room for him and let him start a small store. He can sell fat, flour, and the like. You go often to the city, anyway: thus you can easily bring for him what he may need. Investing a few hundred dollars in this business, you will secure a future for your son. As long as you live, you can give him a home. In the meantime, he will grow to be a man. Being a comely lad and not otherwise sickly, some decent girl will gladly take him when she knows that he will be able to support her.

“By the help of God I have already taught him to read,” continued the young man, while the farmer, shaking his head, was looking on, all surprised. “I have already spoken to old David concerning him: he is willing to teach him how to keep accounts and to sell, and you know that nobody can match a Jew in business. Consider this proposition; Sammy is returning, and I would not like to have him know what we talked about until you can decide. In the meantime, I shall take him into the woods for a walk.”

Before the farmer realized it, he was alone in the room. Through the window he saw how Methodius put his arm around Sammy, and in animated conversation, took him through the orchard until they disappeared from sight.

“What was it he told me? How he does speak! Just like a book! Who would have thought of anything like it? What things does the young man think of! It is just like that filled up swamp. Sammy says that he must have traveled over much of the world and had great experience. But he is right. I, myself would be glad if something could be made out of my boy.”

The farmer hunted up his wife and asked her to go with him to the fields. That day they saw very little of the crops. They consulted regarding the proposition from all angles, and she fairly grew young in the hope that here was still a chance that her darling might get on in the world after all.

In the meantime those two, concerning whom they consulted, sat in the nearby oak grove, surrounded by a group of children, and Methodius kept their attention in a lively discourse.

Methodius, the servant of Ondrasik, was known by all the children in the village. As the saying goes, the children and dogs soon find out who is their friend and follow him. He dug out a swimming hole in the creek behind his property, so they could bathe there. Farther down in the fields, he often helped the shepherd boys out of trouble, and he also dammed up the creek, so they had a better chance for fishing. In the spring, when he had a bit of time in the evening, he cut willow rods and made whistles out of them. Out of the elderberry branches he made squirt pipes and guns. Now he was making crickets out of nut shells. He always had his pockets full of things and divided them among the youngsters, who were always ready to receive gifts. They followed him everywhere like puppies, through the village or through the fields. You could always hear the call, “Uncle Method! Uncle Method!”

Often when the farmer’s wife gave him a lunch of bread and cheese to take to the fields, he would divide it with the poor geese herder.

The children had a royal time when, like today, they could gather around him, sit at his feet, and listen. It seemed to the children that no one else in the world could tell such stories as Uncle Method could. That was the common consensus among them.

The goats and cows were feeding on a nearby meadow, tied to posts, and the children, quiet as mice, listened even now to a story.

One of the boys had found a dead swallow. “If you like, I will tell you something about swallows,” said Uncle Method, and the children cried with joy, “Yes, yes, about swallows!”

“Listen, then, how the swallows returned home.

“Far, far away, where at Christmas time the trees bloom and the fruits ripen, where there is so much that is beautiful, and such flowers as we do not dream of—but also so many snakes, that horror grips a man. There, in far away Africa, the swallows had a great gathering and council.

“And it was a beautiful gathering. All the swallows had previously washed in the dew and brushed up their coats like velvet, black eyes, rosy little vests, white breasts and skirts with a long train—like some great ladies.

“They flew together to this gathering from far and wide, by the hundreds, yes, by the thousands. As soon as they were all there, the meeting opened. They began with song and prayer. Whoever will not believe that the swallows pray, just let him ask them, and let him look it up in the Word of God. I know for sure that they pray and obey their maker, God.

“Well then, they began with song and prayer. Thereupon, when all were quiet, they were told that since it was time to leave Africa and return to their old home, they would now have a consultation as to what day and hour the expedition should start, and that exact laws and directions would be given about how they should behave on the way.

“First of all, with one accord, the swallows selected elders and managers from among all, and then they were quiet again to listen to them.

“ ‘Tomorrow, when people say it is the first of the month, all of you must come to the yearly place of gathering. All who are late, must stay in Africa.

“ ‘First we shall fly over beautiful landscapes till we come to the great water—that water is called The Sea. Let all keep exactly the place assigned to them, because all that will not keep together, will not be safe from birds of prey. Those robbers are afraid of thousands of swallows, but one or two are easily scooped up.

“ ‘While we are still flying over the beautiful countries, you must obediently watch every command and rest often and long together. And if there are ever so many flies all around you, you must not overeat, so that you will not get too fat, because then you would be too heavy.

“ ‘At the seashore we shall have another convention—there we shall commend ourselves into the hands of God, because there will begin the dangerous trip for us. For a long time you will see around you only water—nothing but water—and you must not stop flying, because there will be no place to sit down.

“ ‘It is all thus arranged by our Maker; therefore, only those swallows will succeed in flying over the sea that will best obey the laws given us by God and pray most. Let us pray now also.’

“Well, then they prayed, sang, and the gathering ended.

“On the following day it was just black, because of all the swallows on the shores of a great and beautiful river. First came hundreds, then thousands, then five thousand, then ten thousand, then a hundred thousand, and then there were so many, that no man could count them. It looked like some army camp. Among these crowds flew gray swallows, keeping order—they were named the leaders. There were also white swallows, so white and clean, that it seemed as if no earthly dust came upon them. They flew among the divided groups and admonished them to pray and obey the Holy Creator, the living God.

“Because among the swallows there are boys and girls also, the boys played with each other, measuring their wings to see who had the longest and would be able to fly farthest. They calculated that to fly over the sea is nothing; they had no idea of the extent of the sea. They got acquainted with each other and even fought together, presumably to know how to fight the robbers.

“ ‘Don’t do that,’ admonished an old gray leader, ‘It is not for us to fight; you just have to ask Him, believe,and fly. If you should fight with every bird of prey, you would never reach the goal.’

“The girls whispered among themselves about the kind of dress each had—which one had the smoothest combed head, whitest breast, and longest train of skirts.

“A white swallow flew among them and said gravely, ‘You better think of God and the long trip ahead of you. Beauty will not keep you from perishing, and if any of you fall into the sea, she will perish with all her beauty.’

“The old swallows passing around, looked over their particular groups of boys and girls, and fixed up all, especially the boys—some were all disheveled—doing for all what was necessary. They had a prayer, a song, and then ‘Goodbye, Africa!’ sounded from thousands and thousands of throats.

“The sun was darkened by the black cloud that rose from the shore. The people stopped working and, looking at the cloud, said, ‘The swallows are returning home.’

“How beautiful was that trip over the beautiful countryside until they came to the sea. It was interesting because of the many new acquaintances which the swallows made amongst themselves. At the command of the leaders they had to rest often and long; therefore, almost none of the swallows felt tired. Finally, they came within view of the sea. Again the command to rest! Many would rather have gone ahead at once, but the leaders would not let them; they needed the rest for their wings and strengthening in united prayer.

“The leaders looked over the whole assembly. Anyone that had ever so small a scratch or some feathers damaged, or was in any way sickly was to confess it, and the assembly would wait for him until he became quite well. Some of them acknowledged it, but others did not ascribe great importance to a little scratch, thinking it would heal on the way. Others—the disobedient ones—did not refrain from just gulping and gulping up the many flies that were buzzing around. The admonitions of the white swallows, that only those who knew how to deny themselves and control their desires would be able to fly over the ocean, they let in by one ear and out by the other. Those grew so fat in the few days that the assembly rested by the sea, that they slumbered wherever they sat down, and when they did not slumber, they just chased after the flies again. They also slumbered during the great prayer meeting, and when they all prayed, one could not hear their voice, and even when they sang with the others, their thoughts were on the flies.

“ ‘Now then, in the name of our Creator, let us go!’ sounded through the whole assembly.

“ ‘Goodbye, Africa! Goodbye, Africa!’ sounded from thousands of throats. ‘Over the sea, over the sea, we are going home!’ and the echo sounded: ‘Home!’

“Now the boys who yonder at the river said, ‘Never mind the sea,’ began to be convinced how great the sea was—how great! For a long time they flew and nothing was to be seen but water, water—their wings were weary, their heads drooping with faintness, and their eyes looked out longingly for a place of rest: but the leaders just commanded: ‘Fly on, fly on!’

“Those that on the shore did not take care of their bruises and damaged wings, fell one after the other into that green water. If one of the healthy ones fell, the water carried her for a while, and then, with renewed strength, she arose again.

“But the disobedient ones could not rise again, and so drowned and perished.

“Those that fattened themselves on the flies began to stay behind, one after the other, first just a little, then more and more as their strength was leaving them. ‘Wait for us! Wait for us!’ they cried and begged—but in vain!

“The command of the leaders was: ‘Fly on, fly on!’ It was the command of God. For God Himself had given each obedient swallow sufficient strength in their wings needed to fly over the sea, but with each moment that strength diminished, therefore one must not drag behind.

“The poor, disobedient swallows! Yonder on the shore they did not know how to restrain their fleshly desires, and now they were too heavy for the flying and the result of their greediness was, that the weight drew them into the sea. Suddenly there came also a storm, wind and rain, hundreds and hundreds of swallows fell into the sea. But those that were obedient and knew how to pray were renewed with courage. But of the disobedient ones, not a single one rose up again; for their disobedience they died in those terrible depths. They will not see their home nests again. Never, never will they come home!

“When their plight was at its worst, they saw a ship in the distance. They lighted on it wherever they could find a place. Oh, that was joy! The sailors of the ship did not like it very much, but the passengers, especially the children, rejoiced greatly to hear their friendly twittering, and by them, sent greetings to their home countries. When one party had rested on the ship, others sat down, and then the third party; thus, they were all relieved.

“Still another storm and wind thinned out the lines of the migrating multitudes. It seemed as though the swallows said, ‘It is impossible, we shall all perish!’

“ ‘We shall not perish!’ cried the white leaders. ‘Just believe, obey, and God will strengthen us!’

“ ‘Land, land!’ cried the first thousands. The whole company rejoiced. The birds gathered their remaining strength with the exception of those who in the last moment lost confidence in God’s sustaining grace, and thus the strength left them, and they fell and perished at the very shores of Europe. The remaining swallows all reached land safely and spread around for a long, joyful rest.

“After being rested and refreshed, they again held an assembly. They started with prayer and jubilant singing of praise to the kind Creator who had helped them so marvelously.

“Then important work and council awaited them.

“Thus far they had been flying jointly, but now the dividing up started. Each one had to announce their birthplace.

“Some were English, some French, Russian, German, Italian, Austrian, Hungarian, and among them also Bohemian and Slovak. Thus they were sorted, first according to countries, then by the districts, finally by the names of cities and villages.

“The whole assembly thanked the brave leaders; they also received the admonition, that as soon as they arrived at home, they should announce the return of the summer. With a final greeting they parted, each to his particular part of the continent. Even while flying, they were calling to each other: ‘Where are you headed?’

“ ‘To Leningrad, to Moscow.’

“ ‘And you, where are you going?’

“ ‘To Paris!’

“ ‘We are going to Prague!’

“ ‘We are heading for Vienna!’

“ ‘We will stop at Rome!’

“ ‘God be with you!’

“When they were more separated, those that belonged to closer districts drew more together; and the swallows from Bohemia began conversing with those from Slovakia.

“ ‘Where are you going?’

“ ‘We are going to Vienna!’

“ ‘And where do you live there?’

“ ‘We build our nests on the memorial church, which was built in commemoration of an incident, when a bad man wanted to kill the emperor, but God did not permit it. It is true the people didn’t like to see us build there, but we asked the Lord God if we might and He agreed—thus we live there. And those yonder live on the very top of Stephen’s dome. And you, where are you from?’

“ ‘We are from Prague, and live on Hradshin; that is the old castle where formerly kings of Bohemia lived, on the Vites dome. Often we considered whether we should not help the people to finish it because they have been more than a hundred years in building it.’

“ ‘We again are going to Trenchin.’

“ ‘Where is that?’

“ ‘In the valley of the river Vah.’

“ ‘And we are going to Budapest; it is good to live there, because it is full of mosquitoes.’

“ ‘Maybe you are living in the castle there?’

“ ‘Oh, no, we would be too lonesome there.’

“ ‘And you, where are you from?’

“ ‘We are from the villages, living close to each other; we just have to fly over the hill to visit one another.’

“ ‘Well, here are the boundaries; here we must take leave one from another. Remember us; God be with you!’

“ ‘God be with you!’

“Thus the swallows came from far off Africa, across the distant sea, each to his own country, particular town and village, yes, even each one to his own particular nest. They came also to our village and to our houses. They came with great jubilation.

“We also welcomed them gladly. ‘Look, the swallows come, the summer is nigh.’

“Thus the swallows returned home,” ended Method. “And how will you reach home some day? Or do you think that you are already home—that you will live here forever?”

“We will not,” said the children thoughtfully, “since we have to die.”

“And where do we go then?”

“To heaven!” called others.

“Yes, heaven is our true home. But what do you think, will you surely go to heaven? What did those swallows do on the way?”

“They prayed, they obeyed.” said one little fellow; “and did not eat too many flies.”

“Well, thus you see, if you want to go to heaven, you also have to obey what the Lord God says, and must not do that which He hath forbidden. Now, repeat the verse which I taught you.”

“ ‘The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.’* (Luke 19:10) ”

“Do you still remember who is this Son of man?”

“The Lord Jesus Christ!” cried the children.

“And whom did He come to seek?”

“All of us.”

“Yes, for us He came, as I told you, to die on the cross for your and my sins, and He is seeking us. Whosoever believeth on Him, follows Him, does not have to die for his sins; such a one does not need anything, but like those swallows, just to obey. Thus the Lord Jesus will lead him to His home in heaven; there will be great joy; each one will fly there to his own house, just like a swallow to his own nest.

“But now it is time you were going; your cattle are restless. And do not forget, since the swallows came home from the far away countries, love them, honor them, because they accomplished the large voyage, for these are the obedient ones, the disobedient drowned at sea and perished.”

The children scattered over the meadows to look alter their animals, and the young men remained alone in deep meditation.

“Listen, Method,” presently said Sammy, “that is such an unusual story. It is just the picture of our journey to heaven, and we in this village Hradova have not even gotten started yet.”

“Do you think so—and why?” the lips of the young man formed in a lovely smile.

“Well, those swallows began everything with prayer, and they got ready to go; but we live just as if we were to live here forever, and yet we have a cemetery in the village. And we don’t start anything with prayer.”

“And why don’t you begin thus? Isn’t God good? Isn’t He worthy to be praised by you? Isn’t He almighty that you could ask Him for anything?

“Sammy, those swallows had their convocation and prayer meeting before they started home. It would be but the right thing to do if your whole village would come together with this intention, to give themselves to God in prayer and ask Him to take you safely over the great sea to the shores of eternal salvation. Well, since they will not do it all at once, why could not we two begin, and do it here just now?”

“Just now and right here? Perhaps that should be done in the church!”

“We are now in a church built by God Himself, and He is in every place. Don’t you think so?”

“That is true, but I don’t know how to pray.”

“Do you want the birdies to put you to shame? The swallows know how to tell their Creator what they need, why not you? He is like a father, a good father. Thank Him for what He hath given you today; ask His forgiveness because you have not been thinking about Him, and ask Him to help you from this day to live so that you may some day go Home.”

It was quite late that evening when the two friends returned.

Sammy, deeply wrapped in thought, did not notice how joyful his parents were and how kind they were to him; he noticed above the gateway the nest and the beautiful birds flying to and fro; it continued to sound in his mind: “Thus the swallows came home.”

“Oh,” he sighed from the depth of his soul, “there, I had them every year and I did not know that the Lord was sending them to me as a living reminder, that even I ought to go Home one day and should prepare for the way.”

“Read the Word of God in your houses and you will find Christ; He will save you and teach you how you should be going Home by the help of His Spirit!” said Method, as they parted.

Sammy wanted to obey and read for himself because he did not know yet how to read very well. Later when he had learned, others would listen to him also.