Black-throated Green Warbler : Do Not Covet
This is a Black-throated Green Warbler. It’s the mirrored pairing of the bird’s left “wing” that makes this photo so delightful. It’s migration season. Millions of birds - beautiful and extraordinary birds - are flying through. These birds love a park… that I don’t. But I succumbed to my desire to be inspired by them and went. I saw the beautiful and extraordinary birds. Many of them. And all their photos I received - on a gray day, deeply shadowed - were neither beautiful nor extraordinary. Those photos are genuinely not as compelling as what I’m instead offering. I fully anticipated poor light, but I allowed my desire to see the birds - and my envy of others’ seeing them - to trump my more considered judgment.
Do not covet. The 10th Commandment. Simple. Profound. We are taught to rein our desires for others’ possessions. Don’t try to keep up with the Jonah’s…. The Bible abounds with stories of coveted land, relationships, and power which depict inevitable downfalls. Like each of the “societal” commandments, the Tenth’s words aim at preserving interpersonal harmony. It’s obvious why any society would outlaw murder, stealing, and lying. But coveting? Innumerable ills could instead have been explicitly prohibited: war, hatred, slavery. Why does coveting rise to the level of inclusion when these others do not? The Sage Ben Zoma hints at the answer: “Who is rich? He who rejoices in his lot….”
I saw three “lifer” birds that day. One is a quite-notable rarity. So why not present one of those “great” birds rather than today’s “pretty good” one? Because the relative ranking, the rubric that determines which bird is “great” and which is “pretty good,” is a bust. It is covetous. Any inclination to elevate a photo - grainy or blurred or obscured - over today’s photo would reflect only my coveting others’ experience of seeing the rarity. The challenge for me - and it’s non-trivial - is to remember my true richness: teaching, inspiring, offering. Ben Zoma’s lesson is not to strive to match others but instead to surpass oneself. I stumbled on the path at the park, but I’ve recovered. May this beautiful Warbler provide you sure-footed guidance.