She’s at it again! The female cardinal who travels from window to window around the house attacking her reflection in each one. She must think that there are innumerable enemies since every time she looks in a window another one appears who surely is bent on encroaching into her territory. Her lovelorn mate sits behind her in the tree calling to her; obviously, he is failing to understand that she has a duty to run off all these interlopers!
My husband collects Don Quixote themed items. Note, I did not say clutter. He has always had an affection for the story of a man who in his delusions of chivalry had a tendency to confuse windmills for giants. Also, this particular quote could apply to him as well, “Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.” I do hope he doesn’t follow it to the full extreme.
Our poor Mrs. Cardinal and the old Don have much in common. Their perception of threat and danger, their determination to defend and protect has seriously skewed their ability to understand reality and cause them to harm themselves. Mrs. Cardinal must at the very least have some brain damage from repeatedly running her beak into a hard glass wall.
Mrs. Cardinal sees a threat where there is none. She is ready to throw herself into a battle where none exists. She is literally fighting against herself. Why? Because her reflection threatens her. So often when we are determined to defend some territory in our lives, it is purely a reflection of our personal insecurity. In our attempts to keep everyone away from “our” stuff, our rights, our portion of whatever pie; whatever it might be, we are revealing to the world; not how brave we are, but how fearful. We end up wasting our time that could be spent building relationships, homes/nests and investing in the next generation.
Don Quixote wasn’t particularly territorial. He wanted to bring back the days of chivalry, the knights in shining armor defending the damsels in distress.
“But our depraved age does not deserve to enjoy such a blessing as those ages enjoyed when knights-errant took upon their shoulders the defense of kingdoms, the protection of damsels, the succor of orphans and minors, the chastisement of the proud, and the recompense of the humble.”
This backward-looking perspective can also be a destructive pattern. When we are committed to bringing back the “good ole days”, we begin to see everyone and everything as a threat to our desired reality. We pick fights with everyone we meet, champion causes that are truly ridiculous, not to mention time-consuming, and we are completely ineffective in bringing about change because we are not dealing with systems and people as they really are, but rather view them as an enemy to our ideal way of life. In the story Don Quixote is not able to bring back the golden age or restore chivalry; he only further deludes and harms himself.
Surely there are principles and truths that we need to hold on to and be prepared to give an answer for when asked.
1 Peter 3:14-16 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
The only effective response should be done with gentleness, respect, and accompanied by such good behavior that those who are attacking us are ashamed of themselves.