What a little bird told me

I walk along the same route to work nearly every day. A couple of months ago, there was a change along the route. It was spring, and nearly every morning I was serenaded by birds who had nested along the route. Every day was a pleasant walk, with sunshine and temperatures always hovering just below twenty degrees celcius.

One pair of birds in particular seemed to take an interest in me as I cut between the baseball fields along the valley floor. One morning they seemed to decide that I was a person of import and flew down along my line of march to greet me with a duet. Not wanting to startle them, I simply continued to walk along the path while pretending not to see them. This ritual continued for several days, with me thinking little of it.

One morning I deviated from my path slightly and the birds flew closer and their song became more furious and more desperate. Letting me get very close, they flew quickly back to the path that I normally followed. Not wanting to startle them, I continued along my alternate route. Unfortunately, this perturbed them far more, so they flew even closer-- landing near my feet. Their song became more furious before flying back to the path, and looking back at me expectantly. A light bulb came on, they were leading me. Probably leading me away from their nest and their babies.

I immediately diverted my walk back to the path that I normally followed, and the ritual between the birds and I reverted to normal. They stayed far enough ahead of me to know that they were not in danger, all the while singing me all the way to work. They had taught me the path through their selfless actions.

There was no question that the birds could not fight with me, and that I could easily kill them when they landed at my feet. They were willing to die, so that their babies could live. I thought about whether or not a person would do the same for another person, and came to the conclusion that they might. We hear of cases where people selflessly risk themselves for others, we hear of cases where people do terrible things to others, and we hear about cases where people stand by and watch as terrible things happen to others.

The birds were guided by an instinct that their rational brains did not, and likely could not, overrule. Free will is a great and wonderful thing, but it gives us the ability to choose what is wrong as well as what is right. Like the birds, people also seem to possess an instinct for altruism. It is arguable that ours is even greater than theirs because we can extend it to those outside of our group. On the other hand, however, our rational minds all too often override what we know is right in favor of enlightened self interest. Like the birds, we usually know in our souls what is right. Unlike the birds, we are able to decide to do otherwise. It would serve us well to always remember that most of the time we know in our hearts what is right and what is not.