{"id":134,"date":"2013-06-24T06:24:59","date_gmt":"2013-06-24T06:24:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/85706cb9-9b3f-4919-9a6f-f87dedb65060"},"modified":"2013-06-24T06:24:59","modified_gmt":"2013-06-24T06:24:59","slug":"reflections-on-hawks-and-the-sparrows-lessons-on-disciplining-our-thinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/?p=134","title":{"rendered":"Reflections on Hawks and the Sparrows: Lessons on Disciplining Our Thinking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reflections on Hawks and the Sparrows:<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

Lessons on Disciplining Our Thinking<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

By<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

Joseph Anthony<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/p>\n

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 <\/font><\/p>\n

Many of us
\nhave observed hawks being pestered by little sparrows or crows and not fighting
\nback.  It is a fascinating thing to
\nwatch.  The other day I sat for fifteen
\nminutes as two sparrows flew around and around a beautiful red-tailed
\nhawk.  They dove at the hawk, seemingly
\npecking at it, and the whole time the hawk either just sat motionless on the
\nsmoke stack it was perched on or it took to the sky and simply flew in great
\nrising circles.  Never once did the hawk try
\nto reach out with its razor sharp talons and crush the little nuisances.  I kept wondering why.  Why would a clearly more powerful bird allow
\nsuch annoying little birds to mob it so? 
\nIn addition, why would the little sparrows pester such a fierce bird,
\nknowing that at any second it could turn around and snip their little necks?<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

Of course a
\nflying sparrow is hard to catch even for a speedy hawk.  But why else would a hawk ignore such pests?
\nI like to think the hawks are doing it for wisdom, wisdom that we can learn
\nfrom.  And even the sparrows offer lessons. <\/font>Here\u2019s my
\ntake on this strange phenomenon and what it means to our spiritual growth.  <\/span><\/p>\n

The sparrows are obviously protecting their
\ninterests, a nest perhaps, a territory; and the hawk is a major league
\nenemy.  One sparrow wouldn\u2019t dream of
\nattacking a hawk, but two or more would. 
\nSo to keep their flying space safe, they risk all, cast all abandon to the
\nwind\u2014literally, and swarm a clearly bigger and more powerful predator.  They go together, but their objective is to
\ndefend.<\/span><\/p>\n

For the hawk\u2019s
\npart, we need to realize they are extremely economical birds.  They only move when necessary, when food is
\navailable to ambush or when they need to find other hunting grounds.  They do sometimes fly just for the sheer joy
\nof being swept upwards on rising currents of wind or to surf the breeze,
\nletting the air sing through their out-curved feathers.  But in general, hawks don\u2019t move much.  They watch, but they do not waste
\nenergy.  So when they\u2019re being pestered
\nby sparrows, they ignore them.  They don\u2019t
\nexpend valuable time and energy trying to shoo them away or kill them.  They ignore them and, if necessary, move
\non.  Of course, if a hawk is the one
\nprotecting a nest no other birds–sparrows or crows, would ever come close to
\nthem. A hawk protecting its eggs or fledglings is a very fierce creature,
\nand the rest of the bird-world knows that. 
\nProtecting its own nest aside, hawks don\u2019t fight other birds that pester
\nthem. <\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

What can we learn from all of this?<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

First of
\nall, those thoughts that mob our head are actually protecting their own interests.  They\u2019re not there to mock or annoy, even if
\nit appears that way. They are trying to knock us off course because our course
\nmeans (so they think) death to them.  The
\nsparrows of pestering thoughts want to keep things the way they are; they enjoy
\nthe old ways, the learned helplessness, the familiar territory.  To have the hawk of a new idea gliding
\neffortlessly around them poses a threat to their way of life.  <\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

Taking a cue
\nfrom the hawks we don’t need to spend the time or energy fighting pestering thoughts;  we can simply let them be (what we resist persists).  If we want we can go someplace else (replace
\nthe pestering thoughts with ones we like and invite), or we can simply ignore
\nthem and focus on whatever the task is at hand. 
\nHawks can sit for hours watching, letting the wind rustle their feathers
\nbut not their minds.  We can learn to do the
\nsame.  If we are economical with our mental
\n(and physical) movements and learn to move consciously in the world, consciously fostering thoughts we want to think, then we don’t need to be disturbed when a little mob of pesky
\nthoughts comes around.  Besides, if we know they are only trying to protect their own, we can even have a little compassion towards them and not seek to destroy them.  We can learn from them.  They understand the power of strength in
\nnumbers.  This is something we can always
\nkeep in mind.  We are not solitary
\nhawks.  We need each other to help us soar.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

Notice too how hawks find thermal currents of air and with only
\nminimal effort, can be carried upwards to great heights, and swiftly.  Hawks observe little bits of leaves and
\nsticks that are caught up on those currents and then they simply slip into them
\ntoo, letting the warm column of air lift them with a few gentle thrusts of their wings, high into the sky.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

We too can
\nlook for warm currents of sunny air, rising columns of positive thoughts from
\nmentors and inspirational people, artists, writers, musicians, and children
\neverywhere; and let our thoughts be lifted with them to high places; places we can glide on; places we can soar from and search out new horizons; places we can
\nscan the world from in search of new opportunities.  We can soar for the sheer joy of being alive.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

So there is
\nmuch to learn from birds\u2014pesky birds and birds of prey.  In fact, there are object lessons everywhere;
\nin every leaf and tree; in every feather and beak.  Our job is to watch, listen, and breathe, and then
\nweave our stories in with Mother Nature\u2019s.  They are after all, one and the same.  And there are treasures everywhere in the infinite folds of her gown waiting
\nto be discovered.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Donate to the Wonder Child Blog Today! Thank you. <\/p>\n

\n
\n
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\n\"\"
\n<\/form>\n

\n

Copyright Joseph Anthony of the Wonder Child Blog<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reflections on Hawks and the Sparrows: Lessons on Disciplining Our Thinking By Joseph Anthony   Many of us have observed hawks being pestered by little sparrows or crows and not fighting back.  It is a fascinating thing to watch.  The other day I sat for fifteen minutes as two sparrows flew around and around a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}