An Instructive Love Story

Two pigeons lived in a cage in a family home. The first one was a terribly deformed rescue bird. This poor little female's head was attached nearly upside down, and if she had not been hand fed she would have quickly died. Later, a male pigeon with two broken wings was rescued and became her cage mate. His wings healed and he was set free. But, he wouldn't leave. He was in love with the unsightly female. Since both birds were staying, they needed names. The family named them Crabtree and Evelyn. Evelyn was the male. Evelyn was completely devoted to Crabtree. He collected a small trove of treasures - a piece of yarn, a charm, an artificial flower, artificial ivy, a string, a tiny twig - which he hid behind a credenza. Each morning when they were let out of their cages, Evelyn went behind the credenza and picked up each one of the treasures and presented them to Crabtree. Crabtree regally accepted each one. This true story demonstrates that animals have a level of consciousness that we are not yet equipped to understand. Love comes in many forms. There is more than one lesson to be learned from the tale of these two birds. In addition to love we can add healing, compassion, generosity, caring, devotion, and seeing beyond appearances.

Source: Living a Noble Life by Rev Joan M Gattuso in the January/February 2010 issue of Unity Magazine.