Tuesday Afternoons...with Ray Gryder: Love Unparalled

Friday, July 15, 2011

Love Unparalled

View from I-68 at Sideling Hill, near Hancock, Maryland

Greetings all! Been away for a bit.
Kim, Gabe and I spent July 4th weekend in southwestern Pennsylvania for a big family reunion party. We had a great time and Gabe enjoyed himself. Hard to believe he turned 10 months old this week.

Of course I've been wondering what to write about during the time away. I think I know what I have to share as I've been thinking about it off and on since last week.

Several weeks ago, Kim made a brightly colored wreath for our front door. On our front porch we have some hanging plants that birds are constantly trying to build homes in or roost in for the night. Over the course of several days the birds realized that the newly hung wreath would potentially be a nice place to roost. We'd open the door and hear the quick fluttering of a bird streaking away. Then on Thursday last week as Kim was leaving the house with Gabe, a bird zipped skyward as she exited. The little bird began squawking and swooping back toward the door. Kim got Gabe settled and then made up her mind to take the wreath down so the birds would leave it alone. As she began to remove the wreath from the door she happened to notice a bit of twig and grass thinking to herself that indeed the bird was beginning to build a home. As she brought the wreath away from the door to lay it in one of the porch chairs, to her amazement, an entire compacted tiny nest with a couple of baby bird eggs inside suddenly fell out. The brightly colored eggs dropped out of the nest and broke open as they impacted against the porch. Kim was devastated. I received her call at work to relay the story of what had just transpired. Kim, a caring and devoted mother of our beautiful son, was so very sympathetic, saddened and remorseful of what had happened.

As I've thought about what happened to Kim and the baby bird eggs I thought too about the sad and tragic story of little Caylee Anthony, her mother Casey and the parents. I realize how very blessed I am to have such a loving wife who cares so deeply for our son. Kim's motherly love caused her sadness over the accidental loss of those baby bird eggs that fell out of the wreath when she removed it from our door. We may never know what befell the little Anthony girl, but we must pray for her now restful peace and for the much needed peace for an obviously very troubled family.

Then early this week I heard a story about where a visitor to Yellowstone Park was killed by a bear. In this very rare occurrence, a man got to close to some baby bear cubs and the mother reacted, mauling the man to death. The bear naturally protected her young just as the little bird was doing as it swooped down on Kim at our front door.

I believe these stories have important things to tell us and somehow they have connections that we ought to contemplate and reflect upon. I have to wonder how Caylee's mom would have felt at causing baby bird eggs to be broken. What if she was protective as the mother bird or the mother bear?

I don't claim to know or have any answers, but what I do know is this:

-I've seen a mother's unparalleled love.