Three Little Birds

Nuthatch

 

About a month ago, two women came to my door. It was the usual door-to-door salesperson bluff covering for hopeful religious conversion. I told them a version of what I usually say -- that I'm not Christian, wasn't raised that way and despite doing my research I don't plan on changing. I probably tell them more than they need, but I'm talkative when I'm nervous.

The older of the two women decided she was going to have me read some scripture. I cautiously obliged. The passage was on grief. She asked me what I do during times of grief. I told her, without blinking, that I look to examples of other people. She then asked me to read the next passage. It was more of the same. Maybe I missed the nuance, because she then asked me, as the younger woman stood nervously behind her, how does one suffering from grief overcome it?

All I could think at that time was that I overcome grief by looking inward and hearing other people's stories. I told the older woman as much. It was as close to the truth as I could find in that awkward moment with two strangers standing outside my door.

A bit later,  after I had time to myself. I remembered a few weeks earlier when I was in quite a bit of pain. Life became difficult due to a series of accidents, mine and those around me. I recalled how I dealt with the pain and difficulty by watching these little birds outside my doorway. They gave me joy and relief every time they fluttered towards the feeder in a swarm and happily fed and bathed in the water I set out for them. These little birds...outside my doorway...

Bob Marley's song, Three Little Birds, is about just that -- three little birds that gave him joy as he saw them nearly everyday outside his door. They inspired him so he wrote a song. The song is so meaningful, many people think it is about much more than birds. Maybe it is, in a way. Every time I found myself in pain in those next couple of weeks, I found myself singing that song because "Every little thing is gonna be alright."