October, especially up north, is a time of regal beauty, where the leaves change colors and even in Florida you can feel and welcome a slight cooling in the air. Its a month where we are reminded that “everything changes”.
“The Saga of the Parrakeets and the Monkey” is a story of how two beautiful parakeets were captured by a trapper, from the forest and brought to the King for the delight of his family. They were put into a gilded cage and fed sugar water and the finest grain. The children were delighted and played with them each day. The parakeets eventually lost their longing to return to the forest and became comfortable in their captivity. The older parakeet said to his younger brother, “Don’t become too comfortable for this also will change.”
Sure enough a few weeks later, the trapper brought the King a little tamed monkey for the King and his children to enjoy. The monkey was pampered with delectable foods and a bed of silk cushions while the parakeets were pushed into the background with their meals now composed of common grains and plain water.
Disheartened by their fallen status, the younger parakeet, who still longed for the forest reminded his older brother that maybe this was an opportunity for them to go “home to the forest.”
With the monkey taking all the attention, the parakeets, were tended to but often ignored. When the housekeeper came to clean their cage, they stretched out their wings and took flight – They flew out the window and back into the forest just outside the castle where they were reunited with other parakeets who wanted to hear their stories of riches and how could they have left their comfortable cage?
The older parakeet said Our fortune shifted again. The younger parakeet said “Being ignored gave us the courage and opportunity to fly out the window. to freedom.”
This story is a reminder of the impermanence of life. Everything changes, circumstances, relationships, the ascension and fall of civilizations.
The two parakeets remind us that we decide how we experience what is happening around us. The older parakeet displayed a depth of wisdom, maturity and understanding about the nature of their situation. The younger parakeet learned the same lesson through experience.
However we show up in life, whether we dig down deep into knowing our wisdom or we are like the younger parakeet, we reach into our courage and do something when opportunity arises.
We all endure the harsh and happy times. When we choose to remain the star of our own story, this gives us the courage to do what is ours to do in every situation knowing that eventually things will always get better..
Happy October
Rev Janice
