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Yet they remained still, unwavering, complacent. The ranger
picked up branches and began to throw them into the tree.
“Fly away....Go! Go!” He beseeched them. But the birds would
not budge.
Finally, the ranger looked up and cried, “The forest is
burning. This tree will be nothing but ashes in a few hours.
You will die for sure. Why in the world won’t you fly away?”
After many moments of silence one of the birds spoke.
“We have lived our lives in this tree. She has given us
branches on which to build our nests and raise our young.
She has given us fruit to eat and worms to feed to our
babies. Her leaves capture the moisture each night, and in
the morning she has let us suck on them for water. In the
summer, she has blocked the sun and provided us with
shade. In the winter, she has caught the snow herself, so
it would not fall on us. As the wind blows through her
leaves, she has sung to us. She has let us fly quickly to her
highest branches to escape the tigers or other animals who
would eat us. We know she will burn. If there were anything
we could do to save her, we would do it. But, as much
as we have tried to think of something, we realize we are
helpless. There is nothing we can do. However, we will not
leave her now.
“Our whole lives, and our parents’ lives and our grandparents’
lives, she has stood beside us, never flinching, never
failing to provide us with anything we could need. How, in
this most dire moment, could we abandon her? We may not
be able to save her, but we will not let her die alone. That
is why we stay. She will die, and we will die, but she will
not leave us and we will not leave her.”
We are so quick in life to switch loyalties - from one teacher
to another, from one spouse to another, from one way of
being to another. Our hearts are fickle. We will remain
loyal as long as it serves us to do so, as long as we, too,
benefit from the loyalty. But, is that really devotion? There
is a reason that wedding vows include the phrase “for richer
and for poorer, in sickness and in health.”
It is very easy to be attached to someone who is healthy,
happy and prosperous. It is more difficult to remain with
someone who is sick, depressed and indigent. It is even
more difficult to maintain the devotion when it may bring
what looks like harm to you. I say “looks like harm” because
the loss of your faith actually is much more damaging
to your soul than any of these other superficial “catastrophes.”
Pure, single-minded devotion is one of the most beautiful
things on Earth. It is, in fact, the path of Bhakti. Yet, how
many of us are really able to maintain this? Usually, we
love God and have faith in Him when all is wonderful. It is
more difficult to believe in a Divine Plan when that Plan
causes agony. Know, though, that it is at times of distress
that your faith is most important. For, these are really the
lessons of life. This is real spirituality. Spirituality is not about
being where and with whom you are most comfortable. It
is keeping the fire of your loyalty burning regardless of
how much water is being poured on the flames.
This is the beauty of the birds. They realized there was
nothing they could do to keep the fire away from their
tree. So, they calmly and faithfully waited out God’s plan.
This sort of devotion may be seen as blind; it may be viewed
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