Mourning Doves

Yesterday as I stood perched upon a ladder applying a new layer of paint to the windows I have been scraping for the past month, a mating pair of mourning doves alighted on the electric wire a few feet above my head. They landed in that noisy way they have of squeaking with each wing beat, as if the palpitations of their wings caused their lung to force out air. I looked up and they just stood there watching me, bobbing their heads as if nodding in agreement and complimenting the work I had done. After a few minutes, they said goodbye and flew into my yard to forage from underneath the small birdfeeder I have installed there. As I walked through the back yard a few minutes later they looked up briefly from their meal, but did not run in fright. They knew me; they knew I was not a threat. The goldfinch on the feeder itself wasn't quite as sure and rushed off bobbing through the air in a bouncing trail of whistles and complaints. Solo male goldfinches are more cautious and more jumpy than mating pairs of the same bird; an extra set of eyes brings a greater sense of security. When I was painting the back window, I heard a familiar screech and looked up to catch a red tailed hawk in a broad glide above the millpond. He or she disappeared in an instant, perhaps having found the desired prey or having moved on to more promising ground. This is the second time I have seen this hawk overhead this week. There is a family of crows living across the street as well. A fledgling just learning to fly, coached out of the nest by his parents, glided overhead a couple of days ago. All of these lives in this small plot of ground surrounded by a few trees and perhaps a single thicket. Everywhere we look, life persisting. How many birds and other fellow creatures live in the unnoticed spaces around you?

What is this talk of reverence for "life" by those who merely revere human fetuses and others who claim to be of their kind? That's not respect for life, that's suicide, religious xenophobia, and misanthropy, never mind the complete dismissal of 99.9% of all life that actually is. Life, as changing and varied as it is, is always expressed as balance and hope in the natural world. Their philosophies are premised on hatred and fear. The mourning doves visited and greeted me with kindness. Where have those who claim the Gospel of love as their guide been hiding? I don't feel them genuine.