Do Not Let Birds Nest In Your Hair

Do not let birds nest in your hair.

                This is the major piece of advice I took out of the 2011 Rocky Mountain Catholic Men’s Conference.  Father Larry Richards mentioned it in passing during his talk.  It’s not a new idea.  Thomas A. Kempis wrote of it in “The Imitation of Christ.”  Did you miss that part of the book?  It’s in regard to allowing thoughts, “birds”, unfettered access to enter and stay, “nest”, in our minds, “our hair”.  Learning this discipline is the key to fighting temptations, learning behavior modifications, and allowing yourself the interior space to grow in your relationship with God.

                Call this Spiritual Growth 101; the key to mastering oneself is being aware of one’s thoughts.  The seed of all mortally sinful action is a thought one accepts and which is allowed the time and space to ruminate and grow.

                I go for walks during my lunch break at work.  While on these walks, I used to get ravens dive bombing me.  At first I just thought, “I wish this would stop.”  Then I had a bit of an epiphany.  I am a supposedly intelligent human being allowing a bunch of birds to harass me.  So I picked up a handful of pebbles on the path and chucked them up at the birds.  They dispersed and haven’t bothered me since.

                These are the birds I visualize as I wave away unwanted thoughts.  Often I have replayed the memory of dispersing those birds in order to chase thoughts away.  Sometimes I actually shake my head and on occasion I have waived my hands over my head. It may look silly, but I don’t mind looking silly for God.  It has worked.

                Once it has worked, something else needs to happen.  You need to fill the void with God.  If you choose not to do this, you are asking for a flock of trouble, so do it please.  The pressure of conjuring Holy thoughts could be enough to cause you to say “Forget it!”  So what I have found is you should just say a prayer you know really well.  Say an “Our Father”, a “Hail Mary”, or a “Glory Be”, but as you say them, concentrate for a change.  You have to go slow and engage your mind.  Think about what every line means and soon your own stream of consciousness will kick in and that’s it. You have shifted your thought from something dangerous to your soul to the creator of your soul and your only help.

                Discipline takes time, so stay close to the sacraments and pray.  If you let a bird dig in, you dig in too, and tell yourself, “This will not kill me!”  Remember that you may be crawling in your skin, but it’s only mental or physical discomfort. You will not die if you bear down and just tell yourself it’s not going to happen.  It will pass, unless you give in, then you are in real trouble.  So do yourself a favor.  Trust God and dig in.  Tie yourself to the mast.  Do you see how important it is to simply follow that initial advice, “Do not let the birds nest in your hair!” and do check out Father Larry Richards.