“God loved the birds and invented trees. Man loved the birds and invented cages.” (Jacques Deval) Recently I visited the zoo and watched the feeding of the rhinoceroses. Wow! What magnificent animals. I know that there’s a controversy about caging animals, but if it weren’t for zoos, animals like the rhinos would become extinct. The Detroit Zoo has freed its elephants to live in a wildlife preserve. It was a good day when God invented animals. ;-) Jack
FROM BLAZING OAKS: I saw some Hippos up close in Congo Africa, and they are pretty intimidating but awesome! Also saw Alligators and BIG snakes. Had a meal of Boa constrictor
in the home of one of the missionaries. Was the consistency of a scallop, tasted a bit like pork. They
wouldn't tell us what we were eating until after the meal! :-)===JACK: I recently tried alligator meat for the first time. Not bad...but I plan to stick to the usuals. A parishioner once served me bear meat. I ate it, but didn't ask for 2nds. Venison isn't for me, either...nor is snake!
FROM WILLMAR REV: . . . and us too that we could appreciate them!!===JACK: Is it possible that we might have been created for the entertainment of the birds? ===REV: Possibility . . . every time someone dies of late, I find folk texting and posting on social media, "Fly high, my good friend, fly high!!" 0;-)===JACK: Your response has the makings of a Winning Words...."Fly high, good friend."
FROM PROUD MARY: it was a good day when god created animals. every day since i was a child i loved going outside in the morning and hearing the creature voices. yesterday my beloved and i were walking with our little puggle in the forest preserve. in spite of practicing social distancing, there were several people who stopped to ask if they could say hello to lucy. the comments varied, but the jist was..."at least we can still have contact with the animals". i am so thankful for kucy pugglestein and lyla kitty. our life is fuller with the innocence and joy they bring us. ===JACK: ...and lonely people can even "talk to the animals." (song for the day)
FROM RS IN TEXAS: The wolves of Yellowstone are a good example. As long as they stay in the boundaries of the park they are protected. Outside the boundaries.....fair game. Unfortunately, poachers abound.===JACK: Is "man" an endangered species, too?
FROM ME IN NEWPORT BEACH: Gardening has been our principal virus refuge. Very rewarding and can be good exercise if you choose to make it so. I remember wondering as a young boy why my mother enjoyed it so much. ===JACK: A lot of things that I wondered about concerning my parents when they were alive are now coming into focus. We're walking in other moccasins. ===ME: Hopefully wiser but certainly tender on the feet bottoms in my case.
FROM PRFM IN RACINE:
Yes there is fear.
Yes there is isolation.
Yes there is panic buying.
Yes there is sickness.
Yes there is even death.
But,
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
You can hear the birds again.
They say that after just a few weeks of quiet
The sky is no longer thick with fumes
But blue and grey and clear.
They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other
across the empty squares,
keeping their windows open
so that those who are alone
may hear the sounds of family around them.
They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
Today a young woman I know
is busy spreading fliers with her number
through the neighbourhood
So that the elders may have someone to call on.
Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples
are preparing to welcome
and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary
All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are.
To how little control we really have.
To what really matters.
To Love.
So we pray and we remember that
Yes there is fear.
But there does not have to be hate.
Yes there is isolation.
But there does not have to be loneliness.
Yes there is panic buying.
But there does not have to be meanness.
Yes there is sickness.
But there does not have to be disease of the soul
Yes there is even death.
But there can always be a rebirth of love.
Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.
Today, breathe.
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again
The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming,
And we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able
to touch across the empty square,
Sing.
(from Richard Hendrick (Brother Richard) in Ireland)
===JACK: I love it when I hear the birds singing in the Springtime.
FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: Nothing is so nice as to sit on my Family room and watch my birds. I have a Red
Winged Blackbird Brutus as he does not share. Our family loves the Detroit Zoo. God planned a wonderful world for us to watch His beautiful creatures.===JACK: Besides watching the birds at the feeder, I love outwitting the squirrels.===JUDY: We don’t have a lot of squirrels. Just one brown one. The squirrels are in the “way back” as we call it. We are surrounded on 3 sides by farm land. But I do love squirrels!===JACK: Those varmints need trees for ways to escape.
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