Going to Extremes

Irrational acts never achieve rational results. One of the biggest disasters in China’s history occurred when Mao Tse-tung declared war on the sparrows. Denouncing the birds as the “enemy of the people” because they were eating the grain, Mao suspended all work and ordered everyone in China to mobilize. From rooftops across the nation, billions of men, women and children screamed, banged gongs, fired rifles, and so frightened the sparrows that, having nowhere to land or hide, they eventually fell to the ground, dead of exhaustion. Mao did succeed in virtually decimating China’s sparrow population. But the angels could have told him that because the ecological balance was so severely disrupted, there would be nothing to combat the worms the following spring. And indeed the worms devastaed crops throughout the country, throwing China into a terrible three year famine that killed perhaps as many people as Mao killed sparrows. The next time you are tempted to go to extremes, and act out of anger or fear rather than waiting until you have calmed down and carefully thought out the situation, remember Chairman Mao and the sparrows. Then ask the angels to help you restore the natural balance in your life by finding a more rational and helpful solution to your problem Daily Mediation: I do not allow my emotions to cloud my reason. ~Terry Lynn Taylor & Mary Beth Crain

Illustration & Concept art | Sparrow Study | Zack Stephanchick