?
AS THE (MAGPIE) FLIES
Scene One: 'Tis the night before Mother's day and the wife
is producing a depression fit, and as usual during such
occasions, the husband is no help at all. He knows that
no matter what he says, tears and depression reign. And,
He's thinking to himself, "My wife can't be the only mother
on the face of the earth having depression at this time,
can she? Well, let's hope not. After all, misery does love
company, right?!"
Our favorite TV shows are over for the night.("Where's a
Tweety-Pie cartoon when you need one?") The wife has
settled in at the computer to sob and play her favorite
online game-Mahjong. The husband silently slips off to bed.
Scene Two:(The upstairs bedroom.) The husband loves
to read. He's one of those silent, solitary type of men
(except when he is not, of course).
Eventually, the wife comes to bed and says she is not
upset at her husband at all.
"So, what are you crying about?"
"I don't know, I just am."
"Is it anything I said or did?"
"No!"
The two of them turn out the lights and go to bed.
The next morning (Sunday, Mother's day), the alarm
goes off. The wife has been downstairs, while hubby
sleeps soundly. The nightstand alarm goes off. The
wife comes upstairs to make sure the alarm is off.
Hubby is now awake. She mentions to him, "I'm
not going to church."
"Well, if you're not going to church, neither am I."
(Nothing's worse than going to church on Mother's
day, without your wife. Dozens come up to you and
and ask, "Where's your wife, what's wrong with your
wife?)
The wife decides to go back to bed. The husband
begins to take a bath.
Suddenly, the wife is awakened because of a loud
crashing and tinkling sound. She rushes out of the
master bedroom, to the main bathroom at the top
of the stairs, where she finds several colored trinkets
fallen, and broken in the main tub.
And, above the tub nervously prancing back and forth
is a very nervous magpie.
The husband goes to the bathroom, stands on the
outside edge of the tub, and reaches for the magpie.
"Rats" The magpie hops too fast down the window
ledge and slips out of the husband's outstretched
hands. While escaping hubby's grasping, several
of magpie's tail feathers begin to fly and fall toward
the bottom of the tub. (Later in the day,
the grandchildren enjoyed taking home their surprise
Mother day gifts.)
The husband reaches again and securely grasps the
black and white visitor, holds it close to his chest
and runs downstairs, opens the front door and releases
the magpie, which immediately spreads its beautiful
black and white wings and floatingly flies away.
Amateur psychology and philosophy hour:
The above incident illustrates that we can quickly change
how we think or feel, by simply changing the focus of our
thoughts. The wife focused on the magpie, and her thoughts
and feelings of depression virtually disappeared. (She was
completely recovered by the next morning.)
Sometimes, it pays to stay home from church. At
least the one magpie I know probably thinks so.
The Lord has ten thousand ways to answer our prayers.
An uninvited magpie is simply one way.
And what did the husband had to say about all this?
"Caw, caw, caw," of course.
(Written on May 11, 2016)