When I was a boy in Wellfleet, Cape Cod, MA, I would go into the breadbox and gather the stale bread, walk across the street, enter a small pine grove, and place breadcrumbs in my hand. After a while the chickadees would be circling my hand, looking at the goodies I had, and before you knew it, one brave chickadee swooped down and grabbed a piece. This went on for quite some time but I wanted to hold one, so, when the time presented, I grabbed at one, at which time it kicked and flapped and I had to let it go…

The rest of the afternoon, not one chickadee would take any breadcrumbs from me and I walked home contemplating the afternoon.

About two or three weeks later I repeated the same process, except for one thing: I didn’t try to grab, I left my hand open. That afternoon those chickadees landed on not only my hand but they landed on my shoulder and even on my head; they filled my heart with love that afternoon and they taught me a very valuable lesson.

“We need to be able to love with an open hand.”
In other words, to find love we need to give love.

Just food for thought…

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