Unintentional Consequences

For some time now, Debbie and I have had a bird feeder on our deck and thoroughly enjoy watching the activity and variety of birds that come.  We have enjoyed this so much that recently we added two more feeders … one for thistle seed and one that holds a suet cake.  In doing this, we have attracted a wider variety of birds … more beauty!

The sides of our yard are bounded by arborvitae bushes.  Birds build nests there … they dart in and out on their forays to and from the feeder. These shrubs offered a degree of protection for the birds…or so we thought.

Last week , for the first time ever, we saw a hawk, perched on a tree branch in the wetlands behind our home.  Two days later I watched a hawk land on top of the shrubs … then dive into them … lots of branches rustling, then a few feathers, and the hawk flew away.

What started out as watching the peaceful beauty of nature became a scene of a more violent aspect of nature.  By providing feeding stations for smaller birds, we inadvertently provided a feeding station for raptors … carnivorous birds.

They, too, have their own beauty … their colors, their majesty, their gracefulness, their speed.

It is one thing to know about the feeding chain of nature … but I don’t like to watch the violent aspects of it.  I know some animals feed on other animals, but I don’t like to have that in my face

In some ways, I know this is hypocritical.  After all, I also eat meat … I just don’t like to think about an animal needing to be “harvested.”  I don’t like to think about the violent part of that process, let alone participate in it.

There are a couple of lessons in this for me:

The first is that the unintentional consequence of intentionally creating an attraction for smaller birds has turned into having built a feeding station for larger birds that feed on the birds attracted to our feeder, and I need to live with that … or stop doing it!

The second is a reminder that I, too, am a predator on the food chain.  I just don’t like thinking about myself that way.  I like to think about just going to the supermarket and picking out something nice to grill.  I realize that I don’t even like to go to a “butcher shop;” the name itself is a reminder of an animal being killed and … butchered … for my pleasure.  There is nothing violent about a “Supermarket.”

I’m not yet ready to give up eating meat, but this is a good reminder of how I participate in the bigger picture of life … and death, at least in the animal world.

So, here’s my invitation … be mindful of the implications of your choices.  Sometimes there are unintentional consequences, and sometimes there are implications that we’d rather not think about.  Being mindful may not be pleasant, but the more honest we are with ourselves, the better we will feel about ourselves.

Live from your Inner Magnificence, because … the extent to which you do is the extent to which you’ll be able to say, “I feel good about being me!”… and that’s a promise!