“Why did the bird die”,
Don Grier
asked my young daughter,,
the small bird with the fading yellow breast,
near our outside table.
Strange –
I never saw a dead bird in nature
without my cat lurking around
with a smirk on its face.
Why is that?
with the billions of birds that die
every day.
Where do they go?
Do they dissolve into the earth?
Or are the lifted up on the breath
of God.
I digress. So I answerd my daughter.
The birdie was flying home to its family
when it got caught in a storm and flew
into a tree and died.
She looked sadly at me,
much as for my weak answer as he lost bird.
“But why was Goldie,
away from her parents with a storm pressing
and the skies turing grey?”
Boy was I in trouble, now!
She had named the bird.
I should have know better,
with a precocious five-year,
and me not even knowing
where bird bones go.
So, I said that
Goldie was late from her
appointed time home after flitting
around with her friend Rocket Robin.
BIG MISTAKE!
Now she said, “Why did Mr. and Mrs. Chirpy let
Goldie fly to see Rocket when a storm
was coming?”
The parents were now involved.
I did not know what to do
with my wayward story as much as
I did not know where all birds
go when they die.
So I finally got smart,
Or seemingly so, and asked Kate
“What do you think was the reason,
poor Goldie died?”
She answered rightly and without hesitation.
“I don’t know everything!”
philosophy
The Secret
Every day, bit by bit, the secret we reveal,
In every moment, in every thought, in all we feel.
As we try to guard, our soul leaks out,
In drips and drabs, in whispers and shouts.
And with every step, we drown with doubts.
What are lies? What is true?
Where to run? What to do?
Who to trust? What to defend?
And how does this mystery end?
As we discern what to let go and protect ,
In this world we try so hard to dissect,
We spy that discovery is hidden,
the final answer we seek is lost; forbidden.
So, with our last heartbeat and final breath,
We find we must love to reach beyond death.
A Wandering Path To You
I am not worthy, but I’ll try,
Moving forward till I die,
Though I misstep along the way,
I get closer day by day,
To life as you meant it to be,
Loving, blessed and Holy.
I don’t deserve it, but I call,
To catch me when I fall,
To bring me home again,
In your presence, out of Sin,
With a heart meek and true,
In your paradise anew.
Jesus please hear my plea,
Remove the darkness, and let me see,
The path that I should take,
And the one that I should forsake,
On my wandering path to you,
And the mission I’m meant to do.