This is a story about a boy whose parents talked him out of caring for an injured bird he found on his way home from school. “Get that thing out of here,” his mother scolded. “He’s full of germs!” “Let nature run its course,” said his father. “It’s wrong to interfere in nature.” With tears in his eyes, the boy returned the bird to the place he found it. As he turned to walk away a great Hawk whipped in and grabbed the helpless bird in his talons and flew away with his tender meal.

Twenty years later when the boy was grown, the people were distraught about a small, peace-loving country being invaded by a great super power. The boy, now a man, wasn’t perplexed at all by this situation. He didn’t think twice about not supporting Ukraine. He said to his son, who was perplexed by the current situation, “Let nature run its course. It’s a just a matter of survival of the fittest.” His son heard his words. “But Dad, why are you so sure letting Russia just take over Ukraine is the right thing?”  “Oh, son, I know its right because our great leader says so. And he knows best about such things.”

The boy began to cry and could not stop crying. He refused to eat and became very frail and thin. The doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with him that would cause him to become so weak and so close to death. Finally, the father asked the boy why he was doing this to himself. The boy spoke with great difficulty, because he was so weak. Through his tears, he confessed, “grandpa told me the story of you, the sick bird and the hawk. Grandpa realized that he and grandma were wrong in telling you to return the bird to nature. But their pride kept them from admitting they were wrong to you. Ukraine is like that little bird you chose not to help, Dad.” His father was in tears as he listened in shock. He realized he had stopped thinking for himself. “I’m sorry son.” And he nursed the boy back to health, feeding him a little at a time, just he wanted to do with the bird. In time, the boy was back to his old self and they developed a far more meaningful relationship because of the challenge they faced together.