Bird Droppings July 21, 2026
I saw a Red-tailed Hawk.

As I look at that statement, it is meaningless to many. A red-tailed hawk crossed my path as I traveled the other day, flying across the road and landing in a tree. For some, there is significance. It has been a few summers since I had the privilege to teach in a summer school program. It was a lot of fun as we surveyed the campus flora and fauna. On day one of class, I asked how many plants were on campus, meaning actual, different kinds of plants. The answers ranged from ten to fifty.

As the summer school session went by, we pressed and labeled over 100 different kinds of plants, trees, and shrubs, all directly on the school campus, and still had many more to go. So where is the significance of a red-tailed hawk? Really, it is only one of several species of raptors in Georgia, and it is not uncommon to be seen sitting along the roadside quite often, waiting for prey in cleared areas of easements and fields. However, it has been nearly a month since I saw one, which is significant because I look for them. Much like my students until they looked, they really did not know how many plants were so close at hand.

I am also always amazed when we look too hard and miss what is in front of us. Yesterday I was not directly looking for a hawk, and it appeared. A single second or two later, and I would have missed it. Life is much like this as well. I have spent many hours looking for something simple and only looked where I started and did not see it.

“There is almost no area of human life today that is not touched by the effects of science and technology. This is critical because unless the direction of science is guided by a consciously ethical motivation, especially compassion, its effects may fail to bring benefit. They may indeed cause great harm.” Dalai Lama, The Universe in a Single Atom

In my wandering through stacks of articles, books, literature reviews, and old newspapers, I found my copy of The Universe in a Single Atom. The current Dalai Lama wrote it to explain his views on science, which are surprisingly candid and intellectual. He admits he is not a scientist and, by his job, a very spiritual person, yet he sees that both spirituality and science can work together. Far too often we allow science and human nature’s greed to be the driving force behind our developments. His view of using compassion as a guide perhaps should be one we seek, and it is interesting as I look back to yesterday and physicist Richard Feynman, although an avowed atheist, who too turned towards a more meaningful use of his ideas as he watched many of his ideas used in creating weapons of mass destruction.

In my further digging, even though I am not one to normally save an editorial page, I found one from many, many years ago. I happened to glance through the pages from the AJC (Atlanta Journal Constitution), and several editorials on one page caught my attention. One opinion was about a sin tax proposed by the new governor on cigarettes and alcohol, which now legislators are looking for other ways to cut the budget and not do good things like green space purchased by the state, layoffs in the university system, and cuts in TANF. It was basically finding $400 million in other ways to cut rather than taxing cigarettes; it is so interesting how we think.
Across the page, teenagers consume a short article on underage drinking and how 25% of alcohol, and interestingly, alcohol tax and cigarette tax were both indirectly conceived as a means of cutting down teen consumption. We have the science to support saving lives and yet choose not to tax those things and cut budgets in ways that do impact our children and society. It has been a few years since the state flag issue, and it received an eighth of a page and several letters to the editor, including one from a man in Griffin, Georgia, quoting Gandhi.

“Any country would prefer its own despot over a foreign controlled system no matter how benevolent that government might be,” Mahatma Gandhi.

This letter was about our taking over Iraq, and the Gandhi quote was in reference to Britain’s takeover of India so many years ago. Now I recall why I saved these pages nearly sixteen years ago. There was also an interesting letter concerning France. “France might be the voice of reason”. Another headline read to the effect, “US States IRAQ compliance not the issue we will go to war it is only a matter of when”. I am rambling, looking for red-tailed hawks and reading eight-year-old AJC editorials all in one sitting, and still only two quotes for today.

I am concerned: are we rational as we wake each morning and go about our days? We have been watching wars unfold which are really for most of us simply on the news, although numerous deaths are hitting home daily. I should say when the Secretary of War releases them. Still, even though many of us know friends and family who are involved, it is still over there. Several days ago, as I looked for a red-tailed hawk and was frustrated because no matter how hard I looked, I could not find one, my son would see one and say, “Dad, a hawk,” and I would miss it. The hawks were there, but for some reason I did not see it; I did not turn quickly enough, or maybe it flew by and was gone. It was not until I stopped forcing the issue that the hawk appeared. We can set lofty goals and seek to fulfill them, but so many times in our straining, we miss the accomplishments along the way.

Going back to that old newspaper, there was Rose Kennedy’s quote about moments versus milestones. Several days back, I used a phrase from a former professor at Eastern College, Tony Campolo: “CARPE DIEM”. It is the title of one of his books and Latin for “seize the day.” I was skeptical about using a quote with a religious tinge, but C. S. Lewis is not a typical theologian so that I may borrow a quote from Mr. Lewis.

“Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.” C.S. Lewis

It is about the moment right now: seize the day, put aside the milestones, and seize the moment as I reread Lewis’s quote each time, a different view or understanding. Perhaps as I was looking for a hawk, I missed the point until I stopped looking and, in his words, found the answer. Each day is a chance again to start anew, fresh as if we can begin again and ponder, think, or seize the day, again. So for today, CARPE DIEM, and as always, please keep all in harm’s way on your mind and in your hearts. Namaste.
My family and friends, I do not say this lightly,

Mitakuye Oyasin

(We are all related)

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