For the Birds?

I spent about 5 minutes listening to a mocking bird sing today. I needed some space this morning during work so I grabbed a step outside my office and listened. The bird had my ear and mental attention.

Have you ever listened to a mocking bird? I don’t claim to know birds or their songs but I learned about the mocking bird’s song once and somehow the info has been branded into my brain. A mocking bird can’t get it’s song straight. It basically imitates every other bird’s song – it’s song is everyone else’s.

As I sat there listening one thought popped into my head: “How often do we sing everyone else’s song in an attempt to find our identity?”

When I was in high school I rotated between two lunch labels. One table looked like a picture out of the clothing section of a Kohl’s catalogue. The other group consisted of my basketball teammates and their girlfriends. I liked both groups but at each table I sang a different song trying to locate my significance and establish my identity. My identity became muddled in the effort to find it.

The bizarre thing about the mocking bird is that it is actually being true to it’s identity singing every other bird’s song. I’m realizing that people are the improper source of my identity. People are fickle, eccentric, and uncertain. Why base my meaning on everyone else’s song? Truth is, I greatly value certain opinions over others; and we’ll always wrestle with the terse, yet difficult, statement, “who cares what people think.” Can we ever be sure of who we are?

What makes the mocking bird content with it’s identity? What makes me discontent with mine? Is it more about finding the right one or listening to the right song?

Listen,”Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”

:: The French Pressed Four ::

: Psalm 100

:: Michael Jackson :: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Xs9OQHpwDE

::: The Pittsburgh Project :: http://www.pittsburghproject.org/

:::: The Chopped Cobb Salad from Panera Bread