Friday, January 23, 2015

A FLOCK OF GULLS

My home town is often called River City. Our main street which runs through downtown is Broadway. And the street runs directly to the conjunction of the Ohio and the Tennessee rivers.  Drivers and pedestrians alike come to the river every day. It has a boat ramp for the fishermen and skiers and is also used to host musical events on a stage which is erected close to the rivers bank. This is really a quaint place to either sit or walk by and take in the sights. The river is usually full of barges hauling goods down the river and pleasure boats and fishing boats can be seen often. I take time to either drive down to the river front or take a walk and sit on one of the benches any chance I have. It is a very beautiful place to visit. Over the years I came to find out that in the winter when the weather is cold the riverfront is oft times filled with river gulls. These beautiful birds have learned to come when the weather is cold and they find many people there who take time to scatter bread crumbs for them to feast on. One day as I stopped my truck I noticed all the gulls which were sitting in groups. As soon as I pulled up and stopped they all looked at me as if to say "Well, you got anything for us?" Then as I rolled down my windows they immediately flocked to where I was sitting. They are so accustomed to seeing people feed them from their car that they assumed I was going to do the same. However, since I didn't have any thing to share with them they quickly left my truck and went back to their own groups.  As I continued to watch all at once they all took off and headed for the same direction. I turned and saw that a car had pulled up a bit farther down the drive and had begun to scatter pieces of bread. They quickly became a swarm, fighting at times violently, as they tired to get their share of the food. As the pieces fell to the ground they all pushed shoved and prodded others out of the way. As I watched the man in the car got out and stood on the riverfront. He held out a entire piece of bread and held it aloft to see if any of the gulls would take it directly from his hand. Most would fly almost right up to the bread, hover for a few seconds, and then dart off with no reward. But I finally did see one gull who evidently was a little braver, fly right up to the man's hand and take the piece of bread and flew away. As he left I noticed several of the other gulls who had been afraid to do what the brave gull did. They started chasing him and trying to take the bread away from him. Finally the piece of bread fell from his mouth and landed on the parking lot. As that happened the other gulls quickly started fighting over the crumbs. I then saw the brave one fly back to the gentleman standing and holding another slice of bread. Once again he took it directly from the man's hand and flew away. This time none of the other gulls chased him as he flew away. They were all too busy fighting for the crumbs and did not know he had made off with another hunk of bread. After seeing this I began to think about how the actions of the gulls were so similar to our own human family. We can get so accustomed to looking for our good in one place that we continue to be content instead of looking for new places to find our "bread". And like the gulls who continued to fight with each over the crumbs below, they failed to look further up to find even a greater good. Those gulls who were afraid to take a chance and grab the bread form the man's hand were content to settle for a few crumbs while much bigger things were possible if only they dared to face their fears. The brave gull who got the greatest reward did so by risking his fate to try something different. And those who chased and made him drop the first piece were akin to those humans who instead of flying higher and taking chances seem to be content trying to take from others who are braver. How often do we fight each other for material gain? Why are some of us brave enough to try different avenues to receive our rewards while others had rather try and take it from those who earned it? I wish I knew that answer. I think it is a shame that so many of us are willing to settle for crumbs while we could be going after much bigger rewards. And those who prey on those who have succeeded on no better than the gulls scraping just to get by. The gulls know no better but we as humans should know the difference between right and wrong. I wish all of us would at this moment could take a quick lesson from that one brave gull I saw who was not afraid to soar higher and take a chance. This human family should be striving to find ways to help all of us attain peace, love, and abundance. If we continue to keep fighting over the crumbs eventually we will all lose. My hope for you this moment is that you decide to fly a little higher and live a life that is truly rewarding. I bless you all.

10 comments:

E. M. Prokop said...

Hey Ron! I love watching birds, or any animal really, play out their day...the struggle to find food and the risk it takes sometimes for them to be rewarded with a meal. I don't have the answer either as to why some people go through life as thieves and thugs, and others take a risk and succeed, like the brave gull...the longer I live the more I truly realize that I don't know anything!
On the subject of struggling animals, recently a literally starving cat showed up at my door out of nowhere. How could I deny a fellow earthling help when it was so desparately needed? I couldn't. He is currently on the mend..(I hope)and has made himself totally at home with us.
You are always inspiring. Thanks for that! Hope life is awesome for you and your family!

deepian said...

Beautiful writing. I read it and had to go away and think about it - the metaphor is so deep. I just read it again, and now I feel it merits further contemplation. We can learn so much just by observing nature. And I find too that waking life presents us with lessons and information symbolically just as our dreams do.

love+light

Jason S said...

Beautiful message Captain, it's time for me to spread my wings. Who knows where I'll land or what is next but in that lays the beauty that people often miss. People and even animals can be fearful, we have taught ourselves fear from the most tender age and we keep repeating it. Everything we see in media is fear mongering, our Government controls us with threat of violence and even some parents and lovers. We can do just fine in life without fear, death is certain but it's nothing to fear, my understanding is it will be the icing on the cake. So don't be afraid to take a bite while your still walking on our Beautiful Mother Earth. Love

captron52 said...

Hello Eve Good to see you again. Thanks for stopping by and for the kind words. The cat you speak of could not have found a better home. I know you will nurse him back to health quickly!

captron52 said...

Hey Ian You are so right! Nature has so many things to teach all of us if only we take time to really observe everything around us. The best to you and yours

captron52 said...

Hey Jason I wholeheartedly agree. There's never a better time than right now for one to spread their wings and see just how high they can soar. You are so right about the fear thing and I don't understand why so many people allow others to keep them in bondage because of fear. You and Miss V have a terrific week. Thanks for the visit!

Unknown said...

Hey My Good Friend. Love reading your writings my brother. As you know, I will simple speak truth as to how I interpret this. Meaning the moral of the story. How do you know the gull is braver than the others? Maybe it has had experience with humans feeding him before, or maybe this man has feed him another time, or maybe he learned it by watching other gulls or other birds...etc.

Also, the supposed brave bird used a primary false flag operation of deceit or a manipulation tactic to out with it's dumb ass friends, left them fight over scraps while I'll dine in peace band fill my belly. Hmmmm?? Sounds like this is the same lessons of the Elite's controlling the world, give them scraps an we'll gorge!!! Sorry!

captron52 said...

hey Dark Star Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts with us. You raise some very valid questions. Hope you don't feel the need to say sorry about any of your comments. I truly do appreciate them!

christopherdossantos3@gmail.com said...

Namaste brother, this was a very interesting post.

Funny how we each read the story and take from it different messages. Gulls, in general, can be seen as good examples of Darwinism in action. The struggle to survive.

Dark Star feels the tale establishes reward for the quicker, smarter, stronger, older, or possibly, larger of the species. The weaker, less efficient, hunter takes what remnants it can muster or perish a gruesome death of starvation. He sees in the story the pantomime of have and have not and is offended by the mere concept.

The view you receive from the message is that one can, even should, justify greater reward to those who exert enhanced effort. Moreover, if one should expose greater intelligence, have more capacity, or prove more adept they should enjoy the fruits of their advantage.

Deeper meaning from this story exposes a balance many of us take to justify the philosophy of have verses have not. The balance I refer to is, in it's essence, justification for Libertarianism.

Interesting post brother, thanks for the educating views.

In Lak' ech, prosper with love.... live with knowledge...

captron52 said...

Hey Christopher. How right you are. Just like reading a bible or any other form of teachings we all have our own personal interpretation of it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.