"The brave little parrot" and "If not higher"
"The brave little parrot" was a Buddha in an animal form. It understands that love is the foundation of being. This is why it was inspired to put a drop of the ocean to extinguish the fire burning a whole forest with all the animals in desperate need. It did not seek for advice on how and how not to stop the burning forest. It acted with its little efforts and found benevolence when the great God saw its efforts and rewarded it with bountiful tears as rain.
"If not higher" shows that the Rabbi did not disappear into heaven during the Penitential service but went to the wood to cut firewood for some sick woman who needed some warmth. He indeed went into the highest heavens, where love reigns supreme. He was not asking for advice or money in return for his kindness. He just needed somebody to open her doors to receive love.
These two ancient tales have some moral, spiritual, and ethical teachings in common.
From them one can learn that there is the need to make a difference in our world. We should not wait till we have it all before we can start making efforts. Our little efforts can "inspire greater forces to come to our aid."
It is morally, ethically, and spiritually better to show little kindness and love. We should not waste our time in offering long prayers and advise. Instead of these, let us use our time to live out our beliefs. We can still say our prayers while we are engaged in our labor of love. God is only present where there is love. To make God truly present in our world, we should embrace love. And it is not only our friends and family that we should love, we should love our friends too and do acts of love for them.
Our actions speak louder than our words. Our life can be the only Bible somebody may read today. Some people engage in long speeches when all that is required is to move the finger to do some good work in the life of others. We are not reduced by the love we show other people. Instead, we are increased and God is most honored by such love, because God is love.
Explanation:
"The brave little parrot" was a 1998 children novel by Martin Rafe. It is didactic, teaching children that there is sharing in love and love in sharing. It is just like the earlier short story by Isaac Leibush Peretz about the disappearance of the Rabbi during the Penitential service, and how he went "if not higher" than heaven by going out to show concern and love.
