About 10 years ago, my son and I were eating dinner on a late spring Sunday afternoon when we heard a bird making all kinds of harsh, strident shrieks in our back yard. It carried on for some time until I finally went into the yard to see what was going on. I found the mutilated body of a robin at the base of the ash tree. It appeared that the semi-feral cat that we had adopted had caught the bird and taken it's life there. It was a senseless death to me because it was only mutilated, not eaten. I think I spoke to the shrieking bird in the tree telling it how sorry I was and that I would bury it's mate. I gathered up the dead bird and took it further back in the yard and buried it deep in a sheltered spot.
We returned to the house to finish our meal. As we were eating, the robin in the ash tree began singing a song so sad that I can only call it a requiem. It sang loud and long, it's notes in a minor key pouring out grief and loss that was heart wrenching to hear. That soulful song of mourning wound through the quiet Sabbath afternoon so sadly and beautifully that I was deeply touched. It spoke of a deep bond, treasured and remembered and of such loss that it was immeasurable. The remembrance of it still brings a tug at my heart and tears to my eyes.
I have never heard a bird sing like that before or since. As I ponder the experience, I am reminded of how precious all life is and I marvel that I was given the privilege of hearing the robin's requiem and recognizing it as such. How easily we overlook or dismiss the lives of many of the other creatures around us. We take so much for granted caught up in living our self-centered lives. Do we ever think of "reverence for life" as Albert Schweitzer did? What do we value beyond our own selves?
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