DO BUFFALOES HAVE WINGS

Wouldn't you like to cleanse the world of houseflies?  Stupid question. They are irritating and dirty and they drive, not only me, but my dogs, insane.  On occasion, they remind me of some people the world needs to be cleansed of as well.  Blindly slapping at two irascible flies in my kitchen with a tea towel was enlightening!  It was apparent that while doing so, I wanted to slap a few people too, as I batted at the flies, consistently unsuccessful in my mission. 

Later this same day I discovered that flies also drive buffaloes crazy.  Okay, so perhaps I need a life.  Or perhaps I need less of a life.  But feeding pellets to a buffalo named 'Bunky' lightened my mood, enlightened my heart, and made this Sunday pretty darn special. 

“What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.”

Crowfoot

Over and over again, "Bunky" begged for more pellets, sticking his giant head through the fencing. He would interrupt his treats, on occasion, to throw his head over his shoulder to bat at the flies on his back.  He would then look at the horses next to him in the pasture and almost tease them because he was getting 'treats' and they weren't.  Bunky's caretaker came with fly spray and hung over the fence to spray away Bunky's nemesis - the fly!  If only he could do the same for me.

Then I felt a bit of guilt for my thoughts and was reminded of a statement by Rabbi Harold Kushner, "When you carry out acts of kindness you get a wonderful feeling inside.  It is as though something inside your body responds and says, yes, this is how I ought to feel." Which led me to believe how truly sad those people must be that don't know this secret.  Those whose sole mission is to destroy and hurt and mame others.  This message for a sick soul is truly sad.  Hurting others doesn't make you feel any better.  It only tells the world who you really are. 

"Life is mostly froth and bubble.  Two things stand like stone, kindness in another's trouble, courage in your own.

Adam Gordon

Danny Thomas once said, " All of us are born for a reason, but all of us don't discover why.  Success in life has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself.  It's what you do for others."  How truly sad those must be who choose to hurt us intentionally. For them I feel nothing but pity. 

So today I continue to bat the flies that occasionally surface to irritate.  Knowing that they too will vanish and go on about their way irritating others all too soon. For in the scheme of things what is one irritating fly? And more importantly, I will remember that kindness trumps stupid....and flies. And a lick from a buffalo named "Bunky"  can set the world upright again.

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'Jessica, you want some buffalo wings?' 'Sorry I don't eat buffalo.'” ~~ Jessica Simpson quote

You don't become enormously successful without encountering some really interesting problems.

- Mark Victor Hansen

Truth be told, whenever we face ambiguous situations with things going for us and things going against us, I would suggest that gratitude is the most creative thing we can possibly do because it puts us in touch with the positive energies that are at work in our lives.

It gives us a way of having confidence and it gives us a way of having hope for the days that lie ahead.

— The Rev. Dr. John Claypool