DISCOURSING WITH THE BIRDS AND ANIMALS

...We all know that in St. Francis discourse with the birds, He said, "My little sisters, many are the bonds which unite us to God, and your duty is to praise Him everywhere and always, because He has let you free to fly wherever you will..." ..Well...we all should realize that the birds are doing what your beloved St. Francis taught them...they are praising Him...

.It is obvious to us that our ''LITTLE SISTERS' that unite us to God...are doing what the Master Francis instructed them to do...to praise God and the Franciscan Orders... ...So with that concept pressing my pen to the paper here is the story of --

A LESSON IN HANDLING BLUEBIRDS

...Believe it or not...St. Francis NEVER saw an Eastern Bluebird ?... for they are only found in the United States and Bermuda... ...At one point they were almost extinct...but today bluebirds are flashing across the local airways, and as Henry David Thoreau once described, ... carrying the sky on their backs... and as I describe...they are always ready to share their sounds and signs of springtime and images of love and hope with everyone... ...So they have become one of my many (wild) pet friends...(and spiritual teachers) .and I have learned to feed them in a special way ...and they (In turn) have fed me in a special way... ...I can call them and they will come and eat out of my hand (s)... ...But there is nothing mystical or magical about the routine...it's all in their training and my handling of them...

...It's all in my training and in their responses...

...it's a little like our spirituality...

...I love bluebirds and bluebirds love back... St. Francis never saw a bluebird in Assisi...but when you hold a bluebird in your hand you sure do understand His spirituality...you sure understand His training and his handling of our spirituality.. At this point we can (then) thoroughly understand why His stories are so astonishing and why their discourses with us can BE so inspiring....