The Real Thing

I noticed Dinji, our one-eyed gray cat, sitting at the foot of our “See Rock City” bird house. His body was tense, ready to spring, eying something above him. I couldn’t see anything he could be so interested in. All day, from time to time, he was right there intensely watching, his body in hunting mode. I wondered what he saw. A bird I hadn’t noticed? A lizard? I could see no movement around that bird house pole. Off and on, he took up his post, all but licking his chops. Even the next day, there he was, watching and waiting.

After two days he finally gave up. Puzzled, I speculated about what he’d thought he could catch. Then it became obvious. There is a decorative red cardinal atop the “See Rock City” bird house. Apparently, Dinji thought that bird, the right color and size but immovable, was a real bird.

Poor Dinji! He thought he saw a real bird and waited so patiently for it to fly down where he could snatch it out of the air. But it never moved.

As we send congratulation cards to high school graduates I’m reminded to pray they will be able to recognize the real thing, Jesus and His teachings, and not be swayed or confused by all the attractive false ideas. At colleges, jobs, wherever they go, they will encounter so many beautiful “birds” perched realistically and so temptingly. But those will never satisfy the hungry heart.

All that thrills my soul is Jesus, He is more than life to me; And the fairest of ten thousand In my blessed Lord I see. —Thoro Harris, 1931