Feeling for others!

I stopped to look up while on the morning walk, when I heard long bird calls just above me. One bird was moving between the flowers, while gustily calling forth!

 Soon another bird arrived and they located around a cluster of flowers. One of them continued the bird call, while in between both of them feeding on the nectar. 

A third bird arrived in a few minutes. Thais when I got a sense of the repeated bird calls. It was meant for other birds in the morning to come for nectar. Those bird calls were therefore friendly calls to to draw other birds to the site. 

The three of them took turns to feed on the nectar. Then two of them left one after the other and one was still left in the site, when I walked on. 

Birds have their way of sharing what they found with other birds although the opposite is also prevalent. 

Some of the sights in nature are truly instructional and formative. 

The two parables that Jesus of Nazareth spoke came to my mind while walking back home. 

The parable of the prodigal son brought into focus about his indulgent life which exhausted him of all that he forcibly took away from his father. On return of the son, to meet his father seeking forgiveness, we find the grumbling attitude of the his brother about the party that his father arranged to celebrate the return of his son.  The prodigal son had a greedy attitude and his brother had a possessive attitude. They lived in the same home but got consumed by their selfish passions. 

In the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus of Nazareth brought forth the humane side of a man who took notice of a wounded person lying on the road side and attended to look after him. He behaved dissimilar to the the two earlier passers by, who ignored the wounded person. 

We live in a season and time when these two contrasting features in human behaviour is noticeable where ever people can be found. 

I have memories of instances when I turned the other way when someone needed help and attention. 

That instinct is deep within. It was this consciousness which brought my attention to the bird behaviour, of  birds calling out for other birds to come and share in what they found!

To share or give is superficially seen to be losing one's chance; instead, when we give we move towards our true humanness, with which we are born!

When I was growing up, I noticed my mother keeping away a handful of rice into a separate container every time she cooked rice at home. She took that to the Church once every month and gave to the pool of rice for distribution.   Many families did this to share food with people in the neighbourhood who lived in poverty! 

That habit regularly practiced then, is nor more a practice now. The message from that form of giving was a regular reminder in every home about people who lived in need!

The birds that I referred to above, were messengers of a truth about sharing, lest I forget others when every thing is well with me!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)