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Friday, November 29, 2013

For the Birds

This past week I had the privilege of visiting with friends that I no long get to see on a regular basis. As always, being in their presence, whether in Athens, GA or in New Orleans, LA, brought me great peace, inspiration, and energy to live my life seeking the Spirit always.  Thank you, friends, for being marvelous blessings in my life.

Now, you may be wondering what the phrase "for the birds" has to do with my above thoughts.  Well, as you may know, the phrase "for the birds" often designates that something is insignificant, unimportant, or trivial.  I'm going to spin this phrase to mean the quite the opposite as I reflect on an experience of mine this week. Earlier this week, I went to the Audobon Zoo with a friend. Rarely do I go to the zoo, but anytime a friend who has not been there before wants to go, I welcome the opportunity. As we wandered through the different animal exhibits, we came upon the aviary. As you might expect inside this sealed off space, we found many different breeds of birds occupying the trees, branches, bushes, ponds, etc.  However, what you may not realize is that these different breeds of birds came from all different parts of the world.  The birds covered a wide spectrum of sizes and colors, too. They were magnificent to be around.  Their diversity struck me as interesting because many of these birds were out of their natural environments and living among other birds that were indigenous to completely different environments from their own. Yet, all of the birds seemed to have adapted quite well to each other and their shared home.  Upon seeing this, I reflected upon how often we, as humans, have difficulty getting along with other humans from very different environments, cultures, customs, etc. Are we not supposed to be more intelligent and rational than simple birds? Sometimes, I wonder about this.  Also, these birds not only were living in peace with one another, but they were not upset by our human presence at all. They crossed beneath our feet, flew over our heads, and sang their pleasant songs in ways that almost seemed to welcome us into their space.  How welcoming are we to others who are from "different parts of the world" than us?  Each time we see violence, poverty, injustice, hate, etc. perhaps we should think of the birds living in peace with one another sharing their space and resources so that they all may coexist beautifully. Is this not the purpose of God's creation?

So, next time you hear the phrase "that's for the birds" think about how it may be more appropriate to say "that's for the humans" instead. The Spirit was very much present with the birds in the aviary and as as a result of my being there, the Spirit was very much present with me, too.

May we be ever-faithful, ever-mindful, and ever-joyful.

2 comments:

  1. This website might be of interest to you:

    http://10000birds.com/why-is-for-the-birds-a-bad-thing.htm

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  2. Thanks for sharing! That was certainly intriguing. Who would have thought?

    peace,
    Drew

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