The nutmeg tree in the garden facing the side entrance of our cottage is a favourite flight station for birds.
In the late afternoon yesterday, two Tree pie, one Sunbird and a Bulbul occupied different places in the same tree.
None of these three species of birds thrive on nutmeg fruits. It was not therefore the fruits that brought them to the tree!
I have noticed that birds have a traction towards trees where other birds come to visit!
The bird calls become their connecting link during such visits.
The parable Jesus of Nazareth spoke about the mustard plant, recorded in the gospel of Matthew 13: 31-33 in the New Testament of the Bible, crossed my mind while watching this bird festival in a nutmeg tree in our garden. The mustard plant larger than all other plants grew from a small seed. It grew large enough for the 'birds of the air to come and nest in its branches' !
A mustard tree is portrayed to convey a message about the kingdom
of God. Just as a tree is a host to different birds in the garden to nest, so is God inviting people to be at home with Him.
The picture, the writer of Psalm 46 in the Old Testament of the Bible presents about God, is another attribute of God: 'God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (46:1).
The symbol of tree represents the theme of refuge in a meaningful way as birds have the trees as their shelter ! The birds of the air have no life apart from trees. In a desert where there are no trees, most birds will not survive.
I recall how Dr Earnest Fritchi, an orthopaedic surgeon turned the large barren Karigiri Hospital campus into a forest because he found the symbol of tree as a synonym for hospitality in a hospital. The photographs of the dry mountain side, where the hospital was about to be located, give an idea of how the land was bare without any green belt. Dr Fritchi often referred to the Biblical thought that, 'The earth is the Lord's' and all it contains and the world and all those who dwell in it..' (Psalm 24:1). Dr Fritchi envisioned patients of leprosy staying in a hospital for several weeks for treatment, surrounded by plants and trees, where birds of air would come to reside and nest. This became a reality as the Karigiri hospital campus became an ecological treasure of variety of trees and birds of air. The way Dr Fritchof talked about patients of leprosy at a time when treatment for cure was still to be fully established, brought a new dimension of compassion and care. I remember him telling about making the environment friendly for birds as a corollary of our commitment to care for those with leprosy.
Our environment is a garden of life for humans, and all other living beings!
If only humans can turn their hearts to what Psalmist describes in Psalm 25:8-10, we might find a new consciousness of fraternity among humans: 'Good and upright is the Lord;...He leads the humble in justice, and He teaches the humble His way. All the paths of the Lord are loving kindness and truth...' .
The trees remind us of the gift of life that we are given. The birds symbolise the hospitality that they receive from these trees. The trees and birds together remind us of God, to whom belongs the earth and all that it contains.
Such a consciousness brings a different orientation to the way we live: gratefully, regardfully and graciously!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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