One day, visiting a cinema display, I was impressed by an interesting picture, which must have taken weeks of patient watching to complete. It portrayed the habits of a cuckoo, the bird that, in some countries, shirks the duty of parentage by laying its egg in another bird's nest. This particular cuckoo laid its egg in the nest of a little wren. When the egg was hatched, the uninvited guest began by taking the food from the rest of the family. The greedy interloper grew until he found the little wren's nest too small for him; and in order to accommodate himself, he one day pushed out one of the wee birdlings; and as he continued to thrive, he continued this selfish procedure, until he had pushed out, one by one, the whole legitimate family. He continued still to grow, spreading himself over the entire nest, being much larger than the bereft parents, who, seemingly quite unconscious of their loss, fed untiringly the intruder who had disposed of their offspring. This voracious creature's whole time was spent swallowing the food so industriously provided by his adopted parents, ever opening his mouth for more.
In thinking of this picture, we find it illustrates, among several lessons, the necessity of observing the rule given for our protection on page 392 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy: "Stand porter at the door of thought. Admitting only such conclusions as you wish realized in bodily results, you will control yourself harmoniously." When we are un-watchful, is not the intruder permitted to enter our mental home, bringing thoughts of malice, jealousy, envy, hate, hurt pride, wounded feelings, self-pity? Is not this interloper nourished by listening to its pleadings, which insist that resentment is natural and justifiable? And when the suggestion is admitted, the legitimate family—right thoughts—is deprived of its rightful nutriment, that "hidden manna" which is the knowledge of divine Love's omnipresence and man's unchangeable at-one-ment with divine Principle, God,—the true consciousness, which feeds and rightly nourishes the hungry heart.
When resentment is admitted, this illegitimate belief "grows by what it feeds on," until it and its brood of evils fill the entire home, pushing out the rightful inmates,—spiritual joy, harmony, trust in good. The atmosphere is darkened by selfish, self-centered thoughts; consciousness is deadened by the poison of suspicion; the judgment becomes warped with jealousy; the understanding is clouded with hate. Unless we awaken to the knowledge of the error we have admitted, cast it out, and entertain and feed instead the true owners of the home, love, joy, tenderness, kindness, peace, and harmony will be destroyed. Shall we continue to feed these enemies to our peace, which have no right or place in the true home?
