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The hungry birds PDF  | Print |  E-mail
Written by SADHU SUNDAR SINGH   
Thursday, 06 May 2010 08:42



P A R A B L E
the hungry birds
Once as I wandered in the mountains, I
came upon an outcropping of rocks, and as I sat on the highest
rock to rest and look out over the valley, I saw a nest in the
branches of a tree. The young birds in the nest were crying
noisily. Then I saw how the mother bird returned with food for
her young ones. When they heard the sound of her wings and
felt her presence nearby, they cried all the more loudly and
opened their beaks wide. But after the mother bird fed them
and flew away again, they were quiet. Climbing down to look
more closely, I saw that the newly hatched birds had not yet
opened their eyes. Without even being able to see their mother,
they opened their beaks and begged for nourishment whenever
she approached.
These tiny birds did not say: “We will not open our beaks
until we can see our mother clearly and also see what kind of
food she offers. Perhaps it is not our mother at all but instead
some dangerous enemy. And who knows if it is proper nourishment
or some kind of poison that is being fed to us?” If they
had reasoned thus, they would never have discovered the
truth. Before they were even strong enough to open their eyes,
they would have starved to death. But they held no such
doubts about the presence and love of their mother, and so
after a few days, they opened their eyes and rejoiced to see her
with them. Day by day they grew stronger and developed into
the form and likeness of the mother, and soon they were able
to soar up into the freedom of the skies.
We humans often think of ourselves as the greatest living
beings, but do we not have something to learn from these
common birds? We often question the reality and the loving
nature of God. But the Master has said: “Blessed are those
who have not seen and yet believe.” Whenever we open our
hearts to God, we receive spiritual nourishment and grow
more and more into the likeness of God until we reach spiritual
maturity. And once we open our spiritual eyes and see God’s
presence, we find indescribable and unending bliss.
 
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