The Other Kind of Winged Messenger

I am feeling very dispirited today, and have had a lot of difficulty pushing myself to get up and do anything. I finally got myself together enough to go out for a little walk and do my prayers, and when I had gotten outside, I took a deep breath and felt the sunshine on my face. A house sparrow flew over and landed right in front of me, carrying a down feather in its beak. It laid the feather gently at my feet, hopped a few steps back, and regarded me for a moment. I said, "thank you," and it nodded and flew away.