About 10 years ago my son and I were eating dinner on a late spring Sunday afternoon when we heard a bird making all kinds of harsh strident shrieks in our back yard. It carried on for some time until I finally went into the yard to see what was going on. I found the mutilated body of a robin at the base of the ash tree. It appeared that the semi-feral cat that we had adopted had caught the bird and taken it's life there. The bird doing all the shrieking was in the ash tree. I think I spoke to the bird in the tree telling it how sorry I was and that I would bury it's mate. I gathered up the dead bird and took it further back in the yard and buried it deeply in a sheltered spot.
We returned to the house to finish our meal. As we were eating, the robin in the ash tree began singing a song so sad that I can only call it a requiem. It sang loud and long, its notes in such a minor key pouring out grief and loss that was heart wrenching to hear. That soulful song of mourning wound through the quiet Sabbath afternoon, so sad and so beautiful that I was deeply touched. The remembrance of it will still bring a tug at my heart and tears to my eyes.
I have never heard a bird sing like that before or since. As I ponder the experience, I am reminded how precious all life is and I marvel that I was given the privilege of that experience. Albert Schweitzer talked about "reverence for life". The robin's requiem reminded me of that reverence for life that is so needed in the world. Are we truly mindful of the other living things around us as we thrash about living our lives? Or are we so self-centered that theirs is inconsequential?