The Bird Feeders

I've two bird feeders hanging in a front yard tree.  One is full of feed that draws all types of birds whereas the other is primarily for the small, quiet and colorful finch birds.  I recently moved the finch feeder and the finches stopped coming to their feeder.  A neighbor who knows more about birds than I thought I'd moved the finch feeder too close to the other feeder.  He said that the small and quiet finches will feed only where they feel safe.  The other feeder draws all kinds of birds which are larger, busier and noisier than the finches.  They must make the finches so uneasy that they don't come to their feeder.  My life is often like those bird feeders.  What seems to be the larger, busier and noisier things in my life often  keep the smaller and quieter things away.  It happens in my mind a lot.  For example, I sit to be quiet in prayer and my mind gets busy with all of the activities that I think I need to do.  In his book, Into The Silent Land, Martin Laird recommends developing the discipline of not permitting one's mind to engage those distractions in prayer.  Easier said than done, but, nevertheless, a necessary spiritual discipline.  It is a discipline similar to moving the finch feeder away from the other feeder.