Not too long ago, I was in the United Kingdom in a small countryside village. I had been working most of the week and I decided to go for a walk in the middle of the night. The walkways were well lit but you could still see the stars clearly above. I was walking down a small neighborhood walkway when something had hopped on my foot! It was a small bird, probably a dove, it was still too dark to know for sure. Then I felt another pounce (on my foot), this time, it was a little dark brown tabby cat. It had been chasing this bird which it had injured, and given a few additional seconds it began torturing it the way I'm sure it had for some time.
This bird was obviously hurt and could not fly, but it could hop about four times on the sidewalk before it had to pause. But each time it got far enough away, the tabby would come drag it back and use it for its entertainment. Rolling around with it in its mouth and between its paws on the grass.
At first I began walking away, and I thought to myself "just let nature take its course, this is natural." But then I just couldn't bare the thought of this poor bird with broken wings, alone on its own, being hurt by a cat needlessly just for entertainment. So I went back, I engaged and I fought off the little tabby cat (which didn't take much) and I walked this bird to safety, hop by hop. It nestled itself at the foot of some bushes, and then I walked back down the walkway to make sure the feline wasn't still following us.
I don't know if it was a happy ending for that bird, truthfully, it had been injured badly. But I had given it a fighting chance and alleviated some of its pain.
Nobody deserves to be tortured like a broken bird versus a tabby cat, but I see people do it to each other all the time. They enjoy the power, the absolute domination, and they believe because the person they torture is broken (maybe just for them) that they are somehow strong. But they are not kind people. They are poor humans.
The best people you will know, because they will show the greatest kindness when they have all the power. When someone is weak or injured in some way, they nourish them. If someone is broken, they try with all of their heart and soul to heal them, even if they take away from themselves in doing so. They will walk through the fire for the people they love. They will hold a person's heart high even when they can't for themselves.
So here is the ultimate question... in some ways, aren't we all broken? . . . In some ways, aren't we all weak?.. . In some ways aren't we all broken birds?
Make sure you surround yourself with the right tabby cats, or . . .
... maybe a broken bird just shouldn't trust a cat at all.