Yesterday, I was riding home from work on my bicycle. The sun was shining off and on through some light and feathery clouds. There was a bit of wind, but it was fairly gentle for the most part. I had just passed through a stop light and gotten onto a large wide bike trail.
As I passed under some trees, I noticed a bird flutter to the ground a just a few feet in front of me. It looked like I startled it and it started flying away. However, even though it looked like it was flying away, it turned wing and flew right into the spokes of my front wheel. Horrified, I watched as it got stuck in my tire’s rotation and shot out the same side that it had flown in on. It landed on the road in a crumpled mess of feathers.
I screeched to a halt and turned my bike around. I dropped my bike and went to where the poor thing lay. Its right wing was bent over itself and it was on its back. I gently picked it up to move it off the road. It struggled very little, so I knew there wasn’t much I could do. I set it under the shade of a tree and watched it die.
I felt really sad about the whole thing. I know that there is nothing I could have done in that moment, but it still hurts to be the direct cause of ending of a life. It makes me think about what other harm I might unintentionally cause in this world. I believe that I try to do good and not hurt others, but the truth is that I have and I will hurt this Earth’s creatures in this life. I eat meats from other creatures and sometimes I don’t even remember to be thankful that a creature died so that I might live. I have hurt people physically and emotionally as well. I have done all these things. Does that make me a bad person? I don’t think so. I think that part of my goal in this life is to work towards good and to give other creatures’ lives meaning. Therefore, even though I killed this bird, I can honor its life and how it died by working to not forget my place in this world and my goal of doing good for all the life I encounter.
