Listening to the cardinals sing always elates my heart. Their song is vibrant and it is joyous. Even amongst the other bird songs, it beckons to be heard above the rest. And that makes me smile.
I smile for so many reasons, as this beautiful songbird is such a wonderful teacher. It is able to reveal itself to us when there is a necessary and great need to change the way we see things. I could go on in great detail about the many wonderful things this cheerful teacher shares, but with any of Creator's messengers, it is all about awareness and relationship. Become aware of the messenger and what it is doing and when it appears, and you will begin to learn many helpful and insightful things. That said, when I hear the cardinal sing, I remember a story, and I smile.
I remember the story that told of the time when the cardinal did not sing. This is my (in a nutshell) version of the story as I remember it. It was a dull brown color and in its drabness in comparison to the beauty of the colorful birds around it, it sat in silence, too depressed and sad of heart to sing. No matter how much the other animals, fish and birds tried to cheer it up and get it to sing and enjoy life, it sat in a tree, silent and sad.
Then one day it watched as a raccoon raced by, pursued by an angry, but now tiring wolf. The raccoon was much too fast for it and as the wolf waned, the raccoon raced to a place of safety and hid itself.
The wolf, now very thirsty and tired, stopped and drank from the river and laid down to rest. When the raccoon was sure it was asleep, it went over and put mud upon the wolf's eyes. Laughing at his prank, the raccoon took off. The wolf was tired and rested soundly as the sun baked the mud upon its eyes.
The cardinal watched with much pity for the wolf. When the wolf finally awakened, it panicked as it was unable to open its eyes. It thrusted about, crashing into things, pawing at its face, but the mud was too hard. It would not come off. The cardinal continued to pity the wolf and thought how terrible it must be not being able to see ... to not see the lovely colors of the sky, and grass and sun and the beautiful world all around.
So the cardinal flew down to the wolf and in its compassion, offered its help. The wolf agreed to let the little bird help. So the cardinal pecked away at the mud on the wolf's eyes until it broke away and the wolf was again able to see. The wolf was most grateful and this made the cardinal's heart smile ...
that is, until the wolf asked why the bird was the same color as the mud that blinded it? He asked the cardinal why it chose to dress that way? And cardinal's heart saddened once again. The wolf was so thankful for the little bird's help that it suggested a way for the bird to paint itself. It pawed at a rock until it rolled over, revealing its rich, red interior.
The cardinal excitedly pecked away at the rock, its beak becoming a bright crimson red, and it rubbed its beak all over its feathers until each feather was completely covered in the red paint. It was so happy with how colorful it was, it sang. And its songs of joy could be heard all over and above all things.
The animals all came to witness and rejoice with the cardinal. And to this day it wears the mud mask, to remind itself what it was like not to see, for in its own sadness and depression, it had failed to see the beauty all around it and even more, the beauty within itself. The mask it now wears is a reminder that its compassion and generosity is what changed its life.
And that said and the story now told, when we hear a cardinal singing, and its voice is demanding attention, perhaps it is telling us to open our eyes. Perhaps it is singing a song of compassion and generosity. We all wear masks of mud upon our eyes from time to time. Perhaps the cardinal comes to point that out to us, that it is time to break free of any bondage that keeps us from seeing things clearly. When we are sad and feeling depressed, showing compassion and generosity can uplift the spirit. When we feel inadequate the way we are, we can try showing some compassion and generosity and in doing so, discover our own self worth. When we unjustly compare ourselves with others, we lose the beauty and power of our own song. No matter what it really is, when we have lost our song and can no longer see, cardinal is there to remind us that compassion and generosity is the song that will set us free.
