Have
compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak.
-Psalm 6:2
NLT
One of my
favorite author/speakers is Marilyn Meberg.
A speaker with the original Women
of Faith team, Marilyn excels at punctuating her life lessons with droll humor
and off-the-wall examples. In her book
I’d Rather Be Laughing, Marilyn shares this story regarding the need to change. I offer it here in my own thumbnail version.
There was
a man named Calvin, an upstanding gentle bachelor who desired nothing more than
some conversation to enhance his life.
Deciding that a parrot would be the answer to his too-quiet world, he
went to the pet store and asked if they had a very talkative parrot. Indeed, the shop owner did have such a bird,
but he kept it locked in the back room.
Being anxious to accomplish his mission, Calvin insisted on immediate
purchase of his new companion and took it straight home. That’s when he discovered the parrot was
indeed quite talkative…with a vocabulary that would blister the walls.
Poor
Calvin did everything possible to change his bird. As if his social life wasn’t bad enough
already, his new pet was now killing it.
One day, as the parrot filled the air with especially offensive
language, Calvin could take it no more.
He grabbed the bird from its cage, flung it into the freezer and slammed
the door. He heard it squawking,
swearing, and thrashing about for a few minutes, and then suddenly, it became
deathly quiet. Calvin waited a few more
minutes before cautiously opening the freezer door. The parrot stood there, quiet and calm,
looking back at him.
In the
most humble fashion, the parrot apologized for all the errors of his ways. Furthermore, he vowed never to repeat the
offenses and to be a source of pleasure and good company in the future. There was just one question.
“I do
wonder, sir…I have to ask…what did the chicken do?”
Change. It’s a constant in this earthly life. Things just don’t stay the same – on any
level…personal, country, church or any other facet of life. The key question always comes down to each of
us as individuals regardless of the scope and reach of the community.
Sometimes
change comes when we get a look at the possible consequences of our actions. The parrot got a look at what he feared might
be his future and decided it was in his best interest to change his ways. Would that it was that quick and easy. The initial reaction when we’re faced with
the need for change is to resist. “I/We’ve
never done things that way before!” Sooner
or later, the time comes to determine how to maneuver this new situation with
as much grace and dignity as possible. What can I do to make this new situation as
painless as possible.
At the end
of the day, it doesn’t matter what the chicken did.
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