Like a great many parrots, I was hatched out to be both vain and naughty; both traits are central to my DNA. I spend a great many hours preening every single day, because I want to be ‘top’ bird. And I like eating shoes and gnawing woodwork and stealing food off my owner’s plate. And I’ve developed the habit of making a loud sniggering noise every time I do something wrong. In fact, I’d have a real problem with ever being humble, if it weren’t for my wonderful blog readers. Because every so often, someone sends me an email saying that they’ve been touched by one of my messages, or else that my writing’s helped them in some way. And whenever this happens, I start to feel very humble, and I’ve come to realise that we all need to have that bit of humility inside us if we are ever to allow God to work through us.
It’s a real parrot privilege to receive these messages and they help to make me a better bird than I would otherwise be. Because they’ve taught me one of life’s basic lessons. True satisfaction doesn’t come from pursuing self-interest, from giving in to our naughty desires, or through trying to look more beautiful than everybody else. No, it’s only when we give out to others whatever we have or can offer, that we find true satisfaction and fulfilment. And very often, we need to allow God inside us to allow that to happen. And God can work through anybody and anything, - including this fluffed-up parrot!
“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”
(Martin Luther King Jr.: [1929-1968]: American Baptist minister, black rights activist and political philosopher)
“The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving.”
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” (Winston Churchill: [1874-1965]: British statesman, author, and Prime Minister during WW2)
“Give, and it will be given to you.”
(Luke 6: 38a)
“…. remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’.”
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