A Mocking Bird’s lonely song

[markdohle]

A Mocking Bird’s lonely song

What is considered early in the morning will vary from person to person and place to place.  Since we have our Vigil’s at 4 AM, after being here for a few years, that time seems like 6 AM.  I am lucky I love the morning hours so when I sometimes wake up at 1:30 and feel refreshed, I like to go for walks, for it is not really that early here.  Around the buildings, in our front parking lot by the bakery and also up to the store we have lighting.  I find the sunlight too bright for me and the sun too hot, so I seldom go out during the day and now that I am older, I have to wear sunglasses in order to be outside.  So the coolness of the night and the darkness are soothing to me.  The night lights to me are very restful and calming.  So it is a nice environment to be out and to take a nice slow walk.

Most mornings I see some deer.  Most run when they see me walking, some others just continue to eat.  With a very few I can come up about three feet from them and they don’t seem to mind.  However if I stop then they start to fidget and stomp their hoof on the ground….then the run off.  Yet, there are even a smaller number who seem curious about who and what I am.  I guess they figure I am not going to eat them, so a few times a deer has come right up to me, say about three feet and just looked at me.  It almost seemed as if they were trying to make some sort of breakthrough in their awareness.  One even shook her head and turned away slowly and went back to eating.  Deer are beautiful, but for some reason people think they are dainty, when the opposite is true.  Their hoofs are very sharp and the strength in their legs is astounding, so I do have a lot of respect for them.

At this time, because the bridge that is on the road of our frontage property on 212 is being rebuilt so there is no traffic at all passing us by.  So the silence is profound, beautiful and uninterrupted, some mornings the insects are even silent. 

About two weeks ago, on such a silent morning, as I was returning to the retreat house and was in the parking lot that the bakery sets on, the last tree on the left suddenly became alive with the song of a Mocking Bird.  One bird call after another was loudly and joyously sung.  So I stopped and listened.  Then I noticed there was no response, just this one bird calling out getting no response….yet it continued. 

It brought out a pang of sadness in me and I wondered about that.  As I started to ponder this, I began to see that in some way this bird reminded me of mankind.  Even those of us who have deep faith, we do not always get the response we would like from the Infinite One, in fact many of us may never get one.  Yet like the Mocking Bird we persist in our prayer of longing for connection.  The Mocking Bird perhaps is simply responding to an instinct to mate, as well as making out territory for itself, something powerful and it can’t do otherwise.  I envy animals because they are not burdened with the depth of self awareness that we have, they know what they need to do and without thinking do it. 

We question, struggle and seek to find answers to life’s mysteries.  I believe that prayer is a universal response to the world and its often incomprehensible presence in our lives.  We can marvel at its beauty, or be terrified at its seeming indifference to us.  This reality drives many deeper into faith, into seeking what is behind this wonderful, awful, beautiful and tragic world.  Those like the Mocking Bird who continue in their prayer life, find that in spite of themselves deep changes take place slowly over the years.  They also learn that prayer is not a protection to the ups and downs of life, yet it gives a center to stand from, a relationship with Infinite-Mystery and in that even aging seems like a grace, for we begin to understand that all stages in our lives are good, but each succeeding stage on our pilgrimage is more important than the one proceeding it.  So our last years take on a depth of meaning that younger people may not have any inkling of.  I certainly did not.

 So we continue to sing, in spite of suffering, and in our unconscious futile desire to make prayer into some sort of magic where we can control our lives and get through it unscathed.  This is impossible of course.  For like that Mocking Bird singing hopefully for a response, it will one day be silent, it will no longer be part of this world…..so it is with us, though unlike the Mocking Bird we are saddled with the knowledge that we will one day cease to exist as far as this world is concerned. 

So like Mother Theresa, many go through life living in the darkness of faith, yet, in their seeking they continue out of true love and the desire for truth….for me these are the great souls closer to the mystery than those of us who do not live there all the time.

Faith is a gift, yet we do have to respond, be open and deal with doubts.  Yet why should doubt get the last word, why not let doubt drive us deeper in the mystery instead of escaping into skepticism and atheism.  For the Christian the New Testament points to the reality of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  It is because of that and that only that it was written in the first place.  Without the Resurrection, Jesus was just another failed messianic figure, so common in his lifetime.—Br.MD

 

[RustyAngeL]

4 hours ago, markdohle said:

A Mocking Bird’s lonely song

What is considered early in the morning will vary from person to person and place to place.  Since we have our Vigil’s at 4 AM, after being here for a few years, that time seems like 6 AM.  I am lucky I love the morning hours so when I sometimes wake up at 1:30 and feel refreshed, I like to go for walks, for it is not really that early here.  Around the buildings, in our front parking lot by the bakery and also up to the store we have lighting.  I find the sunlight too bright for me and the sun too hot, so I seldom go out during the day and now that I am older, I have to wear sunglasses in order to be outside.  So the coolness of the night and the darkness are soothing to me.  The night lights to me are very restful and calming.  So it is a nice environment to be out and to take a nice slow walk.

Most mornings I see some deer.  Most run when they see me walking, some others just continue to eat.  With a very few I can come up about three feet from them and they don’t seem to mind.  However if I stop then they start to fidget and stomp their hoof on the ground….then the run off.  Yet, there are even a smaller number who seem curious about who and what I am.  I guess they figure I am not going to eat them, so a few times a deer has come right up to me, say about three feet and just looked at me.  It almost seemed as if they were trying to make some sort of breakthrough in their awareness.  One even shook her head and turned away slowly and went back to eating.  Deer are beautiful, but for some reason people think they are dainty, when the opposite is true.  Their hoofs are very sharp and the strength in their legs is astounding, so I do have a lot of respect for them.

At this time, because the bridge that is on the road of our frontage property on 212 is being rebuilt so there is no traffic at all passing us by.  So the silence is profound, beautiful and uninterrupted, some mornings the insects are even silent. 

About two weeks ago, on such a silent morning, as I was returning to the retreat house and was in the parking lot that the bakery sets on, the last tree on the left suddenly became alive with the song of a Mocking Bird.  One bird call after another was loudly and joyously sung.  So I stopped and listened.  Then I noticed there was no response, just this one bird calling out getting no response….yet it continued. 

It brought out a pang of sadness in me and I wondered about that.  As I started to ponder this, I began to see that in some way this bird reminded me of mankind.  Even those of us who have deep faith, we do not always get the response we would like from the Infinite One, in fact many of us may never get one.  Yet like the Mocking Bird we persist in our prayer of longing for connection.  The Mocking Bird perhaps is simply responding to an instinct to mate, as well as making out territory for itself, something powerful and it can’t do otherwise.  I envy animals because they are not burdened with the depth of self awareness that we have, they know what they need to do and without thinking do it. 

We question, struggle and seek to find answers to life’s mysteries.  I believe that prayer is a universal response to the world and its often incomprehensible presence in our lives.  We can marvel at its beauty, or be terrified at its seeming indifference to us.  This reality drives many deeper into faith, into seeking what is behind this wonderful, awful, beautiful and tragic world.  Those like the Mocking Bird who continue in their prayer life, find that in spite of themselves deep changes take place slowly over the years.  They also learn that prayer is not a protection to the ups and downs of life, yet it gives a center to stand from, a relationship with Infinite-Mystery and in that even aging seems like a grace, for we begin to understand that all stages in our lives are good, but each succeeding stage on our pilgrimage is more important than the one proceeding it.  So our last years take on a depth of meaning that younger people may not have any inkling of.  I certainly did not.

 So we continue to sing, in spite of suffering, and in our unconscious futile desire to make prayer into some sort of magic where we can control our lives and get through it unscathed.  This is impossible of course.  For like that Mocking Bird singing hopefully for a response, it will one day be silent, it will no longer be part of this world…..so it is with us, though unlike the Mocking Bird we are saddled with the knowledge that we will one day cease to exist as far as this world is concerned. 

So like Mother Theresa, many go through life living in the darkness of faith, yet, in their seeking they continue out of true love and the desire for truth….for me these are the great souls closer to the mystery than those of us who do not live there all the time.

Faith is a gift, yet we do have to respond, be open and deal with doubts.  Yet why should doubt get the last word, why not let doubt drive us deeper in the mystery instead of escaping into skepticism and atheism.  For the Christian the New Testament points to the reality of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  It is because of that and that only that it was written in the first place.  Without the Resurrection, Jesus was just another failed messianic figure, so common in his lifetime.—Br.MD


 

 

 

This is beautiful.  I love your Mocking Bird.  Where I live we also have some Mocking birds.  One night I went to bed about 11.  I was reading and all of a sudden outside my bedroom window I heard my Mocking bird.  All I could think of here was was this bird and even in the dark he was singing.  It touched me and it made me realize that we as believers need to sing in the dark too.  We know that even though we don't hear an answer, It's there and His name is Jesus.

Blessings, RustyAngeL

[Willa]

We have had Northern Mockingbird nest occasionally in WA state, but they are not common.  We do have a few more Sage Thrasher, another mimid.  And I have learned that many of the birds they mimic are those that compete for the same types of food.  So they are staking territory.  Once a thrasher mimicked a Western Meadowlark perfectly and then (as my husband says) went running off at the mouth in its own beautiful song.  Around the next bend of the road was a meadowlark!.  So it was given notice.  Nature reflects the glory of God.  It also reflects the results of a fallen world.  Death and suffering.

We are serving a God Who is aware of each sparrow that falls as well as the number of hairs on our heads.  He clothes the beautiful lilies of the the fields.  He is a very personal an up close God Who wants more to have intimate conversations with us than we probably desire of Him.  Most people want a relationship with God on their own terms.  But God will only allow it on His terms.  We must humble ourselves enough to accept this.  The world doesn't revolve around us.  He created us and we must come to Him relying on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, His Son.  Those are His terms.  It involves acknowledging how impure and imperfect we are, and accepting God's remedy provided by the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross in our place for our sins.  It involves trusting that God raised His Son from the dead.  He has promised us a world without death and suffering--a new heavens and a new earth;  even a new Jerusalem.  It will be a place where the lion will like down with the lamb.  There will be no more fear, no tears.  The glory of the the Lord will be our light.  It sounds like the impossible dream.  But how can we doubt the word of our Creator?

[SIC]

Hey come on this seems to project such a joyless picture of our walk with Christ

[markdohle]

23 hours ago, RustyAngeL said:

This is beautiful.  I love your Mocking Bird.  Where I live we also have some Mocking birds.  One night I went to bed about 11.  I was reading and all of a sudden outside my bedroom window I heard my Mocking bird.  All I could think of here was was this bird and even in the dark he was singing.  It touched me and it made me realize that we as believers need to sing in the dark too.  We know that even though we don't hear an answer, It's there and His name is Jesus.

Blessings, RustyAngeL

Thank you.  Yes we need to 'trust' even in the dark and in doubt, for joy is deeper than feelings or emotions. 

Peace
Mark

[markdohle]

15 hours ago, Willa said:

We have had Northern Mockingbird nest occasionally in WA state, but they are not common.  We do have a few more Sage Thrasher, another mimid.  And I have learned that many of the birds they mimic are those that compete for the same types of food.  So they are staking territory.  Once a thrasher mimicked a Western Meadowlark perfectly and then (as my husband says) went running off at the mouth in its own beautiful song.  Around the next bend of the road was a meadowlark!.  So it was given notice.  Nature reflects the glory of God.  It also reflects the results of a fallen world.  Death and suffering.

We are serving a God Who is aware of each sparrow that falls as well as the number of hairs on our heads.  He clothes the beautiful lilies of the the fields.  He is a very personal an up close God Who wants more to have intimate conversations with us than we probably desire of Him.  Most people want a relationship with God on their own terms.  But God will only allow it on His terms.  We must humble ourselves enough to accept this.  The world doesn't revolve around us.  He created us and we must come to Him relying on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, His Son.  Those are His terms.  It involves acknowledging how impure and imperfect we are, and accepting God's remedy provided by the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross in our place for our sins.  It involves trusting that God raised His Son from the dead.  He has promised us a world without death and suffering--a new heavens and a new earth;  even a new Jerusalem.  It will be a place where the lion will like down with the lamb.  There will be no more fear, no tears.  The glory of the the Lord will be our light.  It sounds like the impossible dream.  But how can we doubt the word of our Creator?

Thank you, true words of deep wisdom.  I often meet people who reject God because he will not jump through our hoops.  We are loved too much by God for that too happen. 

Peace

Mark

[markdohle]

13 hours ago, SIC said:

Hey come on this seems to project such a joyless picture of our walk with Christ

I see you point, but it is not what I meant, nor does it deal with a lack of joy, it deals with simple life for all of us, we Christians have to deal with such ups and downs in life.  Thank you for your comment.

Peace
Mark

[kwikphilly]

Funny thing is birds are much different than humans & what sounds like a lonely call getting no response can be a variety of things,,,,for example,a warning call to alert others in the area of the same species that there is potential danger or a predator in sight,the car pulling into the parking lot on such a still quiet evening would likely set off the "alarm",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,once you get out of the car & get out of their territory,all is well,,,,,that is just one scenario,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 Problem with humans is they can sometimes think that no one is listening but God is ALWAYS listening(as a matter of fact,man tends to "think" too much-lol),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,birds know instinctively that the "others" are listening

My guess is that happy little bird was simply giving God a Praise

..............................To God be the Glory for all  His Creation                           With love-in Christ,Kwik

 

 

[markdohle]

4 hours ago, kwikphilly said:

Funny thing is birds are much different than humans & what sounds like a lonely call getting no response can be a variety of things,,,,for example,a warning call to alert others in the area of the same species that there is potential danger or a predator in sight,the car pulling into the parking lot on such a still quiet evening would likely set off the "alarm",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,once you get out of the car & get out of their territory,all is well,,,,,that is just one scenario,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 Problem with humans is they can sometimes think that no one is listening but God is ALWAYS listening(as a matter of fact,man tends to "think" too much-lol),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,birds know instinctively that the "others" are listening

My guess is that happy little bird was simply giving God a Praise

..............................To God be the Glory for all  His Creation                           With love-in Christ,Kwik

 

 

Oh yes, i knew that I was projecting my own human experience on to the bird.  I agree, animals are not burdened with the self awareness we have......it it is also our greatest dearest gift from the Lord.

 

Peace
Mark

[missmuffet]

I don't think we have mocking birds where I live. I live deep in the country. We do have owls which I hear all the time.