Daddy Peacock decided it was high time Baby Peachick saw the full breath of the Sri Lanka jungle. Peachick could hardly believe his luck. He had always wondered what lay beyond the branches and leaves of the tree they nested in, but his father would never allow him go out, saying he wanted the young lad as far away from trouble as possible. But Peachick didn’t understand what his father meant. His father had been so good at keeping him safe that he had never felt endangered. He didn’t even understand what it meant to be afraid. So, imagine his joy when his father finally told him to get ready to see new things in the jungle.
They started their expedition. Moving from one tree to another. Peacock told his son the name each tree bore and what animal often found their home in them. He showed him different landforms and all sorts of things that occurred naturally in the jungle. The young chick asked many questions, some foolish, some sound, but each question was met with a knowledgeable, patient response from his father. He was such a patient teacher.
Then a small, brightly coloured creature flew off a leaf as they passed by a flowerbed. Peachick couldn’t take his eyes off it. It was so beautiful; and it flew graciously into the air, almost as if it was the visible part of the wind that carried his father’s feathers. Peachick had never seen anything like it.
“That’s called a butterfly.” His father mentioned.
“Wow! How did a thing so tiny manage to gather so many colours like those on your feathers daddy?”
“I don’t know son.” Was his father’s response.
Peachick thought there must be a secret to the butterfly’s beauty and he was going to find out by following it with his eyes. He hoped that by learning this secret, he too would grow some beautiful feathers, perhaps even finer than his father’s and become the most handsome Peachick in the jungle.
The higher the butterfly flew, the further Peachick grew from his father. Peacock did notice that Peachick was no longer listening nor following him. Rather than call the young chick, Peacock chose to spread his own brightly coloured feathers, hoping they would attract his son’s attention more than the colours on the butterfly. But unfortunately, his plan didn’t work. Peachick followed the butterfly like a hypnotised victim. He kept his gazed so fixed on the butterfly that he didn’t notice he was on the edge of a cliff. The shocking thing is, he father saw this danger ahead – saw that his young son was absent-mindedly following the butterfly to the edge of the cliff – but said no word; didn’t call out to his son; didn’t warn him of the danger ahead, but simply continued spreading his brightly coloured wings.
Peacock only realised how silly his decision to keep mute was when his son vanished to the earth below. The wailing sound of his plummeting chick jerked him off his silliness and gave those feathers a new job description. He flew as fast and as frantically as he could down the slope. Knowing that his large size could slow him down, he extended his feet out to grab the dropping chick. He was just a few inches close snatching up his falling offspring when its head hit a rock and sent it straggling haphazardly down the jagged slope to the bottom of the cliff.
Peacock didn’t need to be told… his son was dead. With nothing else doing, he simply sat on a rock and watched his son lying lifeless on a rock. Just a few seconds earlier, he had done just the same thing – watched his son. If only he had opened his mouth. If only he had not relied on his feathers to do the work of the mouth. If only he had warned the chick as he wandered away!
This story is analogous to many Christians who are convinced that the message of Christ should be preached by our ‘lives’ more than by our mouth. Let’s face it, there are several other non-Christians who live morally right. So how would others ‘get your drift’ simply by looking at your life?
Think again, is that the best you can do? Do you chew with only one side of your mouth?
Selah!
To be continued…
