Song of the Meadowlark

I heard him before I saw him. Running through the field on this crisp Spring morning his song stopped me in by tracks. There in the rising sun I stood, the steam of my breath gathering around me with the captivating song of an Eastern Meadowlark reaching to my fast beating heart. I bowed to the sun and to the bird atop the apple tree, welcoming them both with gratitude for their safe return that has gifted me with this moment of magic.

As I turned to continue my run I was reminded of an exercise I often did with my students where I would show them corporate logos and pictures of common resident birds and see which they could identify. Consistently, they could identify 85% more logos than birds. I imagine that most people fall into this type of awareness. There are few people that would be able to identify as more of the cars as they wandered through a mall parking lot than they could trees if they walked through a forest.

I truly believe this disconnection with the natural world plays a large role in the general malaise I see in the lives of many people. We have pulled ourselves out the world of the magic I felt with the meadowlark into a world designed to breed dissatisfaction in order to promote consumption. Further, the ignorance of the natural world of which we are designed to be a part has lead to its wanton destruction as we mindlessly expand this other unsatisfying lifestyle. I know in my heart the song that touched me so deeply is one of the promise of our own salvation.

The status of the Eastern Meadowlark is designated as “threatened”. This morning after my run I find that label and who it may truly be applied to as deeply ironic.

#PayAttention #Gratitude #Mindfulness