DECOY
LOVE

Topics: First Commandment; Idolatry; Love; Reality

References: 1 Thessalonians 1; 1 John 5:21

One hundred decoys were placed on the Izu islands of Japan to encourage endangered albatrosses to breed. For more than two years, a five-year-old albatross named Deko tried to woo a wooden decoy by building fancy nests and fighting off rival suitors. He spent his days standing faithfully by her side. Japanese researcher Fumio Sato, talking about the albatross’s infatuation with the wooden decoy, said, “He seems to have no desire to date real birds.”

—World (February 20, 1999)