I heard this Magpie Robin from a distance, calling out its bird call, the other day. I had some random thoughts and feelings about the year 2022, that we were to usher in in a few days from then! As I tuned in to the direction of the bid call, I noticed this bird perched at the edge of a tall bare tree and positioning itself firmly to give away this bird call. There was no other Magpie Robin anywhere in the vicinity, but it still continued singing its bird song.
Most of the features of the bird were not visible from a distance. What broke the silence of the early morning was its song sung tunefully with pauses in between filling the air with its presence. A small bird with its vibrant bird call!
Its smallness or aloneness did not matter to it. It made its presence known in its usual way.
The warning about another wave of COVID pandemic is in the air. There would be intense political activity in the five states in India, where state elections are due in 2022. The global community is through a phase of uncertainties on account of 'normal life and movements' restrained due to the fear of another wave of the corona infection! The economic status of people therefore would suffer adversely. The students waiting for their post graduate courses to start in medical specialties might have to wait longer....
We look into 2022 with some hope amidst these questions and puzzles before us.
For a Magpie Robin the questions I raised above are not matters of concern. It is occupied with its ability to make a difference in the early morning of darkness and silence.
I carry this message to my heart which comes to me from the writer to the Psalm 131:1-3, 'O Lord, my heart is not proud nor my eyes haughty, nor do I involve myself in great matters, or in things too difficult for me. Surely I have composed and quieted my soul like a weaned child rests against his mother....O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time Forth and forever'!
This trustful view of the future is a refreshing departure from the burdens of questions I raised earlier in this text. The hope that is referred to comes from the habit of feeding, weaning and resting! That is the rhythm of an infant. The infant does not strive for its food, but it is provided for. After feeding from the breast, the infant is given mother's shoulders to rest! All that the infant needs would be provided for.
The call of Jesus of Nazareth to 'become like children' might have a message related to the habit of an infant. Living restfully as everything needed is provided for!
Let me confess that I live anxiously, hurriedly and strivingly!
But the imagery that comes from the Magpie Robin and the infant on the mother's shoulder is a call for living restfully and hopefully! I begin the year with this consciousness that the year before us is a year full of opportunities to sing for others, even while remaining at the edge precariously! The Magpie Robin became visible at a distance only because of its bird song. Therefore, quiet presence and purposeful service would be the way of living and working!
Yesterday, when an administrator from the institution mentioned to me that that the Developmental Paediatrics along with another clinical department alone surpassed all the criteria for NABH accreditation, according to the report of the chief inspector, I was once again reminded that there is hope in every situation. The year 2021 was a difficult year for the department since its inception in 2012. But we feel carried to have arrived where we are now!
So come 2022! We are called into this new year! So, we shall 'hope in the Lord'!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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