Circle of Life

I was saddened the other day.

I had been sitting on my front porch for over a week witnessing a momma and daddy robin feeding and taking care of their babies in a nest they built in the plum tree right in front of my porch.  I watched momma sit on the nest, the daddy always bringing worms.  Then one day I finally saw the babies.  Well…I saw only their beaks at first, wide open ready to take in their meal. 

Then it wasn’t long until I could see their downy heads.  I heard them squawking every day.  For some reason this just made me smile, it was a treat for me to watch. 

Then one morning I went out to discover a dead bird in my garden right underneath the plum tree.  I don’t know if a cat had crawled up there and got it or what.  Then I noticed I couldn’t see the babies anymore, I heard nothing from the nest.  It had become quiet.  My heart sank.  I also noticed an ant trail crawling up the trunk of the tree.  Was it a cat, ants?  I don’t know, but this robin family is no more.

When you live out in the country, you see the circle of life more than if you were in the city. We don’t like to think of it, but it happens.  It’s natural.  Dogs out here have killed cats.  They have killed mice out in the fields.  A pet rabbit came up missing one day, never to be seen again.  A favorite chicken bit the dust, or rather a dog bit the chicken.  Deer have been killed in the road by cars.  Their bones have become treats for the dogs.  Are you wanting me to stop? 

This all just got me to pondering once again. These creatures were all created by God.  They are not infused with a soul as we humans are.  They are creatures created with natural instinct and they just do what they are created to do.  You may say, “my dog would never do that”.  Yes, we bring pets into our homes and love them and we train them and discipline them, but that instinct never goes away because it was not meant to.  Cars do not mean to hit deer, but if they jump out in front of you, especially in the dark, they risk getting hit and killed.  If there are other animals around when this happens, they are not going to waste the carcass.  The circle of life. 

Sometimes I think it would be nice to be a bird.  Do you think when babies are taken, the momma and daddy sit around and get depressed, sit in their nest not wanting to get out, not wanting to go on with life.  No, they fly on to the next thing.  That’s how they are created.  But, what would I be missing?  Love.  Love is not just instinct, it is a God given emotion for us human beings. Love is wonderful…it can also be painful.  But I would not give up love because of the fear of pain that might accompany it.  I heard a quote a long time ago that said, “It is better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all.”  I agree.  I have suffered pain through loving, but I would not go back and give up love.  I would do it all again,  because with God, He works all things for good. I just have to wait around and see what He has planned.  I can’t wait, but I will because His timing is best.  I will love, I will feel the pain, I will give it to God, I will forgive, and I will go on.  Because that is how I was created to be.

Meanwhile as I now am sitting in the backyard in another swing, I am witnessing another bird family, this one is the Eastern Blue Bird

The cirle of life continues.

Linking up with the community of chicks over at the nest of