Go, Little One, Go!
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Little Blackie!
By
Francis William Bessler
Laramie, Wyoming
June 19th, 2014
This is a story about a little fellow - without a beginning - and even without an end. That is, I do not know how "Little Blackie" originated; and even though I was within a few yards of Blackie when he (or she) died this morning in the back yard of my dear friend, Nancy, I do not know about its ending either. Blackie died alone - perhaps as it lived alone too.
Blackie - as I chose to call a little black bird that came to my friend, Nancy's, yard - was probably only a few months old when we first saw him (or her). For lack of knowing if Blackie was a male or a female, I will call "him" or "her" an "it". OK?
We noticed "it" about a month ago; and "it" was having difficulty walking - due apparently to a wounded leg - and unable to fly too, probably from an injury to a wing. Nancy and I guessed it must have fallen - perhaps from a nest - and hurt itself; but we do not know that.
All we know about Blackie is that it appeared in Nancy's yard about a month or so ago. A friend, Lynn, came by and told us he could provide a cage if we wanted. Maybe we could cage Little Blackie and provide it safety from the elements - and provide it food and water. If we did, maybe it would survive - and maybe grow strong enough to join its brothers and sisters out and about Nancy's yard. We even planned on nurturing Little Blackie through the summer if needed - and maybe bring it in for the winter if it lasted that long.
So, we took advantage of Lynn's offer and borrowed a cage and caged Little Blackie. Maybe that provided Blackie a little longer life than it would have had - or maybe it lessened the time it would have lived. We do not know. It is possible that caging Little Blackie led to an earlier demise. We simply do not know, but I think it is "probable" that we extended the little one's life at least a little by doing what we did.
In the daytime, we left Blackie in its cage outside on Nancy's lawn out back, though at night - because the temperature dropped below what is comfortable into the 30s - we brought Blackie inside. In the daytime, when it was outside, we opened a door to its cage to allow it to hop up and out of the cage if it wanted. One time, it did hop out and wandered quite a ways from the cage; but eventually I found it and put it back in its cage for that night. After that initial wandering from the cage, though, it stayed in the cage and never tried to hop out again. We were sorry for that because we wanted Blackie to be free, but it probably weakened from its injuries and never hopped out again.
Still, in its cage it seemed to be growing healthier. Other birds of its kind - probably of a "black bird" species - occasionally hopped into Blackie's cage and drank of Blackie's water and ate of Blackie's food and then hopped out again. Blackie did not seem to notice the visits, though, and just kept to itself - and the other birds seemed to have paid no attention to Blackie as such. They just hopped into an open cage, ate a little, and then hopped out - as if Blackie was not even there.
But Blackie was there - and here - for a little while - and Nancy and I are glad it was. This morning when I took Blackie outside, it seemed to be alright, looking up at me and wondering perhaps about the day ahead; but an hour later, Blackie was dead. Perhaps it was almost dead when I took it outside earlier - and I had simply not noticed. Within an hour of my taking Blackie outside this morning, however, Blackie died. I guess it was even weaker than I thought it was.
Nancy cried when she noticed Little Blackie without movement and said; "I'm so sorry! I wanted him to live!" I tried to comfort Nancy and told her something like - "He did live for a little while and that is what we should be proud of. We did try to help it live, but life and death happens to us all - and we should not act like anything that lives can escape death. In seems rather harsh, but we all have to die in the end."
Life Without Death
On the other hand, in the end, Little Blackie did not die near as much as he "lived to the end." That is how I see Blackie - and all my brothers and sisters in the air and on the ground and in the sea. Sure, death comes to us all, human and not human, but that death should not be our focus - even when it happens. Life should be our focus - even when it is no longer. It was once - and as I believe it - it will be again.
Who knows what happens when we die? Little Blackie did not know of a destiny after death - and neither do any one of us. We all speculate about "life after death," but none of us really know about it. Do we? Personally, having Little Blackie in my life for just a month taught me that life itself here and now is what is so precious - not some speculated life after death - though I believe that happens as well.
If we all have souls that occupy bodies while those bodies are alive - as I believe - then it is likely that those souls will simply occupy other bodies that are alive when one body does die; but again, the focus should be living - not dying.
But what if I had treated Little Blackie differently? What if Nancy and I had chosen to flip Little Blackie off and let it be without help? What if we had simply signed off the life of a "little one" and paid it no mind? What if we had simply left it on its own to die on its own? What if we had chosen to ignore Little Blackie and uttered some such words as "That's the way it is!" and let it go at that?
Well, for me, the answer is clear. Yes, I could have done that - or we, Nancy and I, could have done that - and yes, Little Blackie would have died on its own anyway - but if that had been so, I (or we) would have ignored the precious gift of life as if the life of one of us is somehow less worthy than the life of another. Because I (or we) chose to pay attention to Little Blackie, I (and we) chose to attend to life itself.
And when I die - as did Little Blackie this morning - maybe Little Blackie will be there to take my soul on a flight to whatever next life I may have; and when Nancy dies, maybe Little Blackie will be there to take Nancy on a flight to whatever next life she may have. It works that way, I believe, when we pay attention to whatever wonderful life we all have and treat one life the same as another.
Thanks, Little One!
So, yes, we did not save Little Blackie; but because of the way we treated Little Blackie, perhaps Little Blackie saved us. Suppose?
This evening, or maybe tomorrow morning, Nancy and I will bury Little Blackie in Nancy's yard somewhere, but very importantly, we will not be "burying us." A funeral is only sad if in the process we think we are burying ourselves. If we choose to ignore the living and the right to live - not by law, but by courtesy only - then when we bury someone, we are really burying ourselves. That I do believe.
As we live, we will die - and as we let others live and not insist on providing some means of death or punishment to them - even if deserved - then we will "live forever."
Meanness, I believe, is a certain form of death for a spirit - just as kindness is a form of life for a spirit. If we are mean, even if we think we are being just, we are really into a form of "living death." Kindness to all - and everything - then, is the only certain form of "eternal life" - be that life one mortality or a continuous series of mortalities.
Little Blackie is flying now - in some ethereal way - and because we treated Little Blackie like it was one of us, Well, Friends, we, Nancy and I, are flying as well!
Thanks, Little One! I (and we) appreciate your stopping by! Have Fun Flying Wherever You Are! We are so Glad you were Here!
Go, Little One, Go!