We laughed aloud. We have a visiting wild magpie who comes to our door asking for handouts. We love to see him and he knows that if he stands on a certain rock just on the edge of the verandah, we will toss scraps of food to him.
So when we answer his presence at the door, he immediately goes to his rock and waits for us to toss pieces of food for him to catch. It is a game we play with him.
What made us laugh out loud was the idea that the magpie understands what we say to him. One morning we were sitting at the outdoor table having breakfast and the magpie walked close to us.
“No, Maggie,” I said gently because he had been well fed before we sat down to breakfast. “You have just been fed, you can’t possibly be hungry.”
He walked closer, still with his head expectantly on the side, beady, brown eyes fixed on us.
“Go and have a drink of water,” I told him. His back was to the water dish about three metres away and he looked expectantly at us.
“I have just filled the water dish with lovely fresh water,’ I told him, ‘so go and get a drink.”
And he did! He immediately turned his back to us, walked over to the water dish and hopped up on to it. He took several beakfulls and then flew off down the garden to join other members of his family.
We laughed out loud in amazement. It was as though he understood exactly what had been said to him and we are left with a lingering thought. Did he understand? Had he become so familiar with our words that he really understood?
It reminded us that Jesus had a lot of serious things to say about our words and how we use them. He said ‘every thoughtless word you speak you will have to account for on the day of judgement.’ Matthew 12:36.
So always speak kindly, even to magpies, because Jesus is listening.
Elizabeth Price