Saw a Utube video on Facebook the other day that caught my eye. It was a beautiful placid scene, probably in Maine or maybe Alaska, wherein an American Eagle was contentedly gliding along a beautiful river with a large plump fish wiggling in its claws. Suddenly another eagle quickly flew in from behind and swooped under and grabbed the first eagle’s fish and then quickly flew off. Leaving the first eagle tumbling downward in an array of flying feathers and obvious confusion – without its dinner.
The scene reminded me of Hemmingway’s tale about the Old Man and the Sea. The Old Man went deep into the ocean in his small boat and finally caught the biggest fish of life. It was a giant marlin as big as his boat. But the triumphant joy of success was soon tempered by the reality of struggling to bring his big catch to shore. He fought day and night with the big fish but the real danger was the sharks that constantly attacked and ate away at his prize. In the end he did succeed in bringing in the big one but by the time he reached shore it was long dead and just a skeleton – the sharks had eaten all the flesh and meat.
As humans we are moved by our aspirations, visions and goals undreamt of by other beings. What goes on in our minds can be a wonderful end in itself. But we also share the world with other creatures that may see our lofty dreams and visions of greatness, beauty and higher accomplishments as mere meat and fodder for their daily meal. It is not enough to just see and contemplate the good life any more than is it wise to build sandcastles in the wind. We may know what is good and right but unless we are prepared to enter into and engage the hurly burly of the world and effectuate and defend our better aspirations then we will probably end up disappointed like a surprised hungry eagle or a heart-broken old fisherman.
But then again a medieval friar successfully dealt with a similar problem through negotiation and compromise. A large wolf was frequently attacking his village – killing both animals and humans with ferocity. The villagers were terrorized and always walked around armed and in constant fear. But even being armed did not save a villager from attack and being eaten by the wolf.
One day the friar was said to have walked unarmed directly up to the wolf and chastised him for terrorizing the village. He then asked the wolf if he would stop attacking the village if the villagers agreed to feed him only what he needed to eat each day. Both the wolf and the villagers agreed to the compromise and many years of peace and tranquility followed.
I guess there is always hope and another way after all – we just have to look for it with an open mind and a compassionate heart.
