CIRCUMSTANCES,
UNDERSTANDING

A LITTLE bird was flying south for the winter, but the air was so cold that it couldn’t get to the warm climate before it began to freeze. It collapsed under the weight of the cold into a large field. A cow came by and dropped some manure on the freezing bird. At first, of course, the bird was upset, until the bird felt how warm the manure was. So the bird began to thaw out under the manure that the cow had left behind. In fact, the bird just got downright excited and started to sing at the joy of being thawed out by the manure. A cat was passing by and heard this sound of singing. He followed the sound to the manure. He started digging through the manure to get to the song, and discovered it was a bird. Then the cat ate the bird that was thawing out in the pile of manure.

Now there are a number of lessons in this story. The first lesson is, not everybody who drops manure on you is your enemy. Second lesson is, not everybody who digs you out of your manure is your friend. And finally, when you’re in manure, keep your mouth shut.161