A Little Woodpecker

Birds can be teachers too

I grew up on a small farm outside Pretoria. My father wasn't a farmer, and worked for a salary for the government. On weekends he worked very hard to better the property. My mother loved gardening. She had a huge garden with every kind of plant growing there. Over the years it changed from roses to storm lilies, to hydrangeas, etc, but the guinea fowl were always there ... them and the two cranes that roamed free in the garden. Later my father also added two beautiful golden pheasants, and even with the dogs around, they were happy and contented.

Perhaps my love for birds started there. They give so much joy and they always seem to be happy. On the farm where I live now we see wild geese every day, as well as hadidas, ibis, and even peacocks. Sparrows and finches sometimes fly into my kitchen to steal sugar or whatever they can find to nibble. I love it although they do make a mess sometimes.

One day, when I was still a child, I came upon a woodpecker whose leg was broken, and it's possible that his wing was also broken because he couldn't get up from the ground. I picked up the fluttering bird, and took it home, sure that I could heal him. I prayed to God that the bird be healed, but no matter how I tried, the woodpecker didn't react, he had given up on his tiny life. Eventually the light in his eyes dimmed and he died without making a sound as if he had expected this all along and accepted his fate.

I remember how strange it felt to see a living thing die even if it was a very tiny little life. There was this one moment when I knew it was all over and I couldn't save him. So I watched, and cried, and thought it was all so unfair. He was beautiful and happy that morning and it suddenly ended here.

I put him in an old shoe box and lined it with cotton wool covered with soft cloth, and I thought to myself: Why am I doing this? He doesn't feel anything anymore. But I still did it, and wondered how will I die one day? Will I too so quietly accept my death? Will I be put in a wooden box with soft coverings, or will I die somewhere where no one even knows about it like so many animals do?

For many years afterwards I often thought of the little woodpecker. The memory faded eventually until this country was turned around in 1994. From then on until today there were continuous reports of my people being murdered inthe most gruesome ways on farms and in the cities, especially old people and children. There was nothing quiet and accepting about it, and some of them I knew very well. Death suddenly had a very ugly face, one that brought naked fear to the foreground.

People in our cities live in constant fear of their lives – all the cities – those who can afford it, lock themselves in their small prisons at night. No one is safe.

No matter how bad our life might be, how hard or how troublesome, we all want to live, even under bad circumstances. We don't want to give up this life, and when we have to go, we put up a fight. We will do anything to stay alive, and then someone comes along and end the life you've been protecting for so many years.

One cannot always live in fear, but most of the time you can see the danger although not always prevent it. Living in fear was not intended by the Almighty, it is just something that happens mostly through bad people. In an acute situation fear is something that binds your spirit, it paralyses the senses. But as time goes by and you are still alive under bad circumstances, it doesn't make your spine tingle anymore, but it is still there and you have to deal with it.

We should be able to live normal lives like God intended us to do. Other people should not be a threat to anyone, but they are. We warn our children to be careful, and still they get raped or abducted. All the warnings in the world will never change bad people into good ones.

The little woodpecker didn't live in constant fear of his enemies. He had lived the days given to him to the full, and when he died, he accepted it. That is the way it should be, because that was the way it was intended.

Take care of yourself and live the life given to you to the full.