Rock Wren : The Magic of Listening
This is a Rock Wren. As is frequently the case, I heard it before I saw it. To be clear: I heard something, but I wasn’t immediately sure what. This was a new song to me. I had trouble making the connection between ear and brain. Some birds have distinctive calls, think the cawing of a crow or the screech of a hawk. But these little wrens may have upwards of 100 different songs, and so this was a challenge well beyond my novice’s skills. Then I saw it and knew it was a wren. Watching its behavior a bit more, I could narrow it down further and recognize it for what it is. When you’re motivated and open to the evidence, the puzzle pieces fall into place.
King Solomon the Wise is said to have understood all the 70 languages of mankind. Even more intriguing, legend tells that he also had a magic ring, that among other powers, gave him the ability to understand the speech of animals. What should we, today, make of this story? To the modern ear, a magic ring sounds like some fabulist tale. But maybe there’s something more to it. Maybe what seemed, to the story tellers around him, like the powers of a magic ring, was in fact simply the expertise and attention of a master naturalist. What they took for magic was Solomon’s scientific listening. A magic ring would be a king’s fascinating explanation for a lifetime of careful observation.
There is plenty of speech - of both men and animals - that we don’t understand today. Often this is a function of us being confident that we do understand and then being baffled when the speaker seems hurt or confused or angry that we didn’t take the proper meaning from what he said. The underlying predicate of wisdom is humility. And the “magic ring” of humility is a willingness to listen - not just hear but listen. Assembling the puzzle pieces of all communication requires motivation and good intentions. We needn’t be King Solomon the Wise to learn the lessons of the Rock Wren. We simply need to emphasize humble listening and genuine desire to communicate.