Flamingo Love – peaceful community

Whenever I visit the San Diego Zoo, the customary first stop is the Flamingo Lagoon. Why?

• There are lots of benches in the shade to recover from the long trek through the parking lot.

• The colorful flamingos offer a rush of beauty and peace to wash away the cares and stress of normal life.

• Even the crowds are not distractions as I watch parents sharing their discovery with the next generation.

Whether you are sitting on a bench at the zoo or somewhere else looking at this on a screen, try these prompts for meditation on the wonder of this accessible bird community.

• Watch how they move as one organism, and think about how you might learn to be more in sync with those around you. In America we are taught from childhood to be an individual and exploit our special, unique qualities. How can we also be an integral part of our community?
• Look at the flamingos’ unusual structure and realize that they can fly, even though they are so different from other birds. What is it that you think you can’t do because of how you look, or your physical limitations? Take a lesson from the flamingo, and the bumblebee too – maybe you can do more than you thought.
• Read these verses and let them soak in:

Psalm 139: 13 – 14

13. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Enjoy this flamingo’s ability to balance on one leg

Here is a happy flamingo community – let’s be more like them!