“A death row pardon
Two minutes too late “
Alanis Morissette’s song played out for me this morning. As I drove down a busy lane, I spotted a lizard hitching a ride on my windscreen. It was beautiful and repulsive at the same time. I could neither look at her nor look away (what choice did I have - I was driving!). Its translucent skin almost showing its dark bulbous underbelly. It’s glassy, beady eyes staring unabashedly at me.
As I drove on, I started to weigh my options, frantically thinking of ways to evict this unwanted passenger. I couldn’t just clear the windscreen, it would have killed it. If it fell on the road, it would be squashed under some wheel. Yes, it needed help, protection and a ride home safely.
So we drove – the lizard and I, openly sizing each other up. And as I was contemplating ways of getting out of the car without any unpleasant encounters of the reptilian kind, I saw a crow swoop down directly towards the car. Somehow, it looked more menacing, blacker and bigger as it neared, like some ominous big bird from a witch’s tale. The next moment, I heard a thump as a wing beat against the roof of my car. I looked up to see the lifeless lizard clutched in the crow’s claws as it flew away. My heart pounded in my head trying to came to grips with what had just happened.
It was all over- the crow had rid me of my peril and the lizard of its life. I don’t know why but I felt a sense of deep loss. I felt like I was an abettor of some crime. Like I had aided the crow, conspired against the lizard- conned it into believing that I really was saving its life, only to serve it to the crow on a platter. And the crow- it appeared like some conspiring felon, hiding round the corner waiting for a sign to ambush the unsuspecting creature.
For the rest of the ride, calm engulfed me. The crow had rid me of more than the lizard. It had snatched away from me an unnatural sense of responsibility, a burden of knowing too much, knowing what’s best, the burden of Assumption. My help really wasn’t needed. I could have shooed the lizard away. But no, I had to help her, save her from own death. And I did not have the power to do so. Her destiny, in a flash linked me, the lizard and the crow in a dance of nature- beautiful in its might and ruthlessness. And we three were connected through our karma- like transmitters and receivers, our energies transcended physical barriers. The lizard placed a choice in my hand, I in the crow’s and the crow converted this into her destiny and my karma in one swoop. As students we learn of the conversions of energies. But we make the mistake of limiting it to the realm of science. What I saw today made my school lesson appear but an obvious deduction from a natural phenomenon.
Actions have reactions. Energies are passed on – apparent or not. That we do not know, is not sufficient to negate the existence of that which shall prevail. And above all, Nature Rules. Sometimes, humans are redundant.
And I was only trying to help- Ironic.
