The Dumb Cardinal

Please don't be thinking Cardinal = athletic ball team, or Cardinal = official of the Catholic church.  I'm talking, simply Cardinal = red bird!  There's a genuine, real, live male cardinal bird who has directly flown into a window glass in my home many times an hour during daytime for the past 4 days.  No kidding!  He starts from the backyard fence, flies into my family room window, then sits on the small dogwood tree nearby.  Then he starts all over again.

This is not the first time this has happened.  When I first moved into this house in the fall of 2007, I heard sounds on my dining room window.  I was a bit afraid, thinking someone might be trying to get in.  I listened to the sounds all morning, then decided to be brave and peek around the corner of the doorway to check it out.  How strange!  A cardinal flying into the window repeatedly!

I checked with a veterinarian I know who said that seems to be common behavior for cardinals.  They're not big enough to damage a window nor do they fly fast enough to hurt themselves.

This started me thinking about people who are so stubborn (and maybe afraid) for so many years we refer to them as "hitting their heads against a brick wall."  A person I have known for many years was in an impossibly horrible marriage.  She kept "hoping" and "praying" that the abusive husband would somehow morph into a decent human being.  It wasn't happening.  Finally, she decided that it hurt to keep bashing her head into the brick wall, so she would stop!  She gradually figured out for herself what she had to do to leave safely, with her children - and she accomplished it!

It took guts for one person to point out to her, "You know what you're doing?  You're bashing your head against a brick wall.  Nothing has changed nor will it change.  When are you going to decide to quit trying everything when nothing has helped?"

Do you know anyone who may be in that situation?  Do you love her or him enough to be courageous and point out the obvious?  Are you in an impossible situation?  Will you recognize that nothing has changed, will change or can change about your situation, and have the guts to do what you know you have to do?

Dear Lord, we all try to live happy lives.  But in some families or work places, hard-hearted spouses or bosses make life horrible for everyone around them.  We ask you to strengthen our resolve to not endure abuse or tolerate it when we see it.  Thank you for giving us love and courage!