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Feathers

Our welcome mat was covered in downy feathers – the little gray ones left behind when a cat catches a sparrow. My eyes sought and found the proof of this, also waiting on the mat – the tiny body, still in death. Our ginger tom, Sunny, proudly presented himself for my approval. I stroked him as he expected, opened the door, and let him in.

While Sunny trotted off to his bowl, I found a slightly-used paper towel and returned to the welcome mat.

The body was in much better condition than the profusion of feathers suggested, but I did not examine it closely. I merely picked it up with the towel, reached for its spark of soul, and found that its light had indeed returned to its species.

As I gently wrapped the body in the towel I contemplated the fate of such sparks of consciousness. The species was far from achieving individualization in its members, and thus the spark of self formerly residing in that body would have merged back into the great pool from which it came.

Sparrows have species consciousness. They can recognize members of their species, and gender within their species, but they lack the self awareness of true individuality. It was sad in a way, yet valiant, when one contemplated all the steps that lay before them.

It was trash day, and as I walked toward the street I recalled the purpose of the animal kingdom in the planetary life – they are the third kingdom, the representatives of Divine Intelligence, the planetary intellect in becoming. Eventually, as humanity and the entire planetary life evolved, they would become the instrument of conscious creativity within the planetary life.

But that is far, far away, as we measure such things, and there and then the most I could do was honor the tiny fledgling soul,

align with it and through it with its species,

align its species with the purpose of its kingdom,

align the animal kingdom with humanity,

and recognize the service humanity can perform by helping animals to create their individual identities and realize their function within the one life.

Namaste,

Glen

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