I wish I had the brain of a bird
Monday Ministerial Musings
By Rev. Mark William Ennis
2024 Blog #34
August 25, 2025
I wish I had the brain of a bird
This past Saturday I had a completely chance encounter with a woman and her bird, Maisy. Maisy is a Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo. When I woke up on Saturday, I never would have dreamed of meeting such a bird, or the woman who cared it but it happened and I’m glad that it did.
Pam and I have been to the Smithville Inn in past years, but not since the 1970’s. We decided that it was time to see the place again as well as have dinner there. In the afternoon we were taking a coffee break when we met a woman with a bird on her shoulder. The bird was tethered to a lease to keep it from flying away. Naturally, I was intrigued by this and began a conversation.
I must say that decades ago I also had birds for pets. When I was growing up, our family had both a parakeet and a canary. During my college and seminary years I had a pet parakeet whose name was Frodo. He survived a college frat house, and four years in seminary, but died soon after we moved to Hoboken. Frodo was rather well trained. When I walked into a room he would fly and land on my out-stretched finger. He was especially fond of Pam’s hair. I thought that he wanted to nest in it.
Perhaps my most interesting encounter with birds was at an aviary in Costa Rica. An aviary worker placed a Toucan on my arm. I was quite nervous when I saw the size of that bird’s beak. The bird was tame, but I was still nervous. I was in awe of the beauty of that bird.
Maisy was the first Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo that I have ever met, and I was intrigued by such a beautiful bird that could travel so comfortably on a human shoulder. Of course, I asked questions and learned a bit about this type of bird.
This particular bird came from Australia and enjoys a wide diet of seeds, nuts, grains, fruits, flowers and insects. Of course, Maisy’s human companion told me, Maisy eats almost anything. To demonstrate this, the woman gave the bird part of her Danish which Maisy quickly consumed. After eating, the bird shut one eye, but not the other.
I soon learned that many birds can close one eye and have half a brain sleep. The other eye, and half a brain, stays awake to carry on normal functions. This helps when flying long distances. Such a bird can sleep and do its work at the same time. This, to me, is the ultimate in multi-tasking.
I wish that I, and all of us, could have the brain of that bird. How much less stress would we all have.
Such a bird knows the balance between work and rest. Do we?
Such a bird gathers enough to eat and rest but avoids gluttony that many of us fall into.
Such a bird will build a nest large enough to establish shelter for off-spring but avoid the materialism trap that requires humans to live in larger houses than we will ever need.
Such a bird is content with who it is and isn’t worried about the artificial social strata that we pay so much attention to.
I am reminded of what Jesus said about possessions in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 6:
‘Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink] or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
I bet that if we imitated those birds, we might live a bit more stress free and find the peace that only God can give to us.
#ReformedChurchInAmerica # BergenCounty,NJ
#www.PastorMarkAuthor.com #www.revmarkwilliamennis.com
#GlenRock,NJ #CommunityChurchofGlenRock
# https://www.smithvilleinn.com/ #Sulphur-crestedcockatoo