A Lesson from Nature about Allowing
Early last month I was trimming a lilac bush behind my office and noticed through the branches a Robin perched upon an exquisitely built nest. I promptly stopped my cutting work and stepped back to marvel at the intricacy of that nest, and of that mother bird’s commitment to her offspring. Rather than just flying away at the sound of my hedge clippers, she held firm and stayed with her eggs.
A couple of weeks later I approached the same bush to check on the progress of her offspring and saw two babies standing next to each other in the nest. Their feathers had fully grown, and they were getting close to the time they would have to spread their wings and fly for the first time. I then ran into the house to get my camera and got close enough to take the picture to your right. As you can see, the leaves obscured much of my intended subjects, so I had the bright idea to push a branch aside to get a better photo. In doing so I failed to carefully consider which branch to adjust, and inadvertently pulled a large one that shook the entire bush. In a split second pandemonium ensued with each bird flapping its wings like crazy and chirping quite vocally. This invited a quick response from the parents, each of which flew right at my head screeching loudly to let me know I’d stepped over the line.
In felt terrible in that moment because the last thing would ever want to do is harm such beautiful little beings. I quickly left the scene and prayed that the babies would be safe. Once back in the house I surveyed the scene and saw the two tiny birds hopping along the grass, all the while being encouraged by their parents. After some modestly successful attempts to fly, the mom and dad finally guided them back into a thicket of bushes in my neighbor’s yard; I of course felt relieved they were safe again. This taught me a big lesson about the importance of allowing nature to just BE!
A few days later I went back to finish trimming the lilac bush and the nest was empty. I decided at the time to just leave it there, as maybe it could be used again. Sure enough, it didn’t take long for it to be inhabited once more, and as I write this post tonight out of my office window I can see two new baby birds that are getting close to the size where they’ll be leaving the nest as well. This time, however, despite a desire to get a closer look at them I’ve kept my distance and respected the natural process.
I chose to share this story with you today, because I think it demonstrates that important spiritual insights can come from just about any source, even tiny feathered friends living just outside our windows.
Bye for now.
A couple of weeks later I approached the same bush to check on the progress of her offspring and saw two babies standing next to each other in the nest. Their feathers had fully grown, and they were getting close to the time they would have to spread their wings and fly for the first time. I then ran into the house to get my camera and got close enough to take the picture to your right. As you can see, the leaves obscured much of my intended subjects, so I had the bright idea to push a branch aside to get a better photo. In doing so I failed to carefully consider which branch to adjust, and inadvertently pulled a large one that shook the entire bush. In a split second pandemonium ensued with each bird flapping its wings like crazy and chirping quite vocally. This invited a quick response from the parents, each of which flew right at my head screeching loudly to let me know I’d stepped over the line. In felt terrible in that moment because the last thing would ever want to do is harm such beautiful little beings. I quickly left the scene and prayed that the babies would be safe. Once back in the house I surveyed the scene and saw the two tiny birds hopping along the grass, all the while being encouraged by their parents. After some modestly successful attempts to fly, the mom and dad finally guided them back into a thicket of bushes in my neighbor’s yard; I of course felt relieved they were safe again. This taught me a big lesson about the importance of allowing nature to just BE!
A few days later I went back to finish trimming the lilac bush and the nest was empty. I decided at the time to just leave it there, as maybe it could be used again. Sure enough, it didn’t take long for it to be inhabited once more, and as I write this post tonight out of my office window I can see two new baby birds that are getting close to the size where they’ll be leaving the nest as well. This time, however, despite a desire to get a closer look at them I’ve kept my distance and respected the natural process.
I chose to share this story with you today, because I think it demonstrates that important spiritual insights can come from just about any source, even tiny feathered friends living just outside our windows.
Bye for now.
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