For those of you who have never been to Canada, it might appear that we live in a land of polar bears and igloos and mooses (plural of moose?) and the other stuff of postcards – and we do have these things; however, Canada has so much more. We have a spring, where melting water causes tiny creeks to swell into surging rivers, and where our famous Canada geese return from their wintering down south; and we have a fall (or autumn if you prefer), where the colors (or colors if you prefer) of the leaves changing, bring artists and other nature types from all over the world. In my case however, it is our summer that I love the most.

For me, summer in Canada; is many drives up into the country; weekends at one of my favorite lakes, long walks, meeting with friends, and riding my bike – however, as I live in the city, it is frequently down on Lake Ontario that I spend my weekends. And as to this, I park about two miles from the heart of the recreation area; partly because the parking is too costly, and partly, because I like the walk. As I start out, I walk past docked ships, and see cranes and pleasure boats and the regular stuff you would expect to see in a harbor; and it isn’t long before my imagination starts to wander – where I just walk up to a freighter ship and ask if I can come aboard and work my way across the world. And they, of course, gladly accept me – despite me knowing nothing about ships whatsoever (I told you: it’s just in my imagination); and we set sail for far off places like Rio and Auckland and Tasmania and who knows where.

As the walk continues, I walk past a gigantic boarded-up 15 floor grain storage tower that has lain abandoned for as long as I can remember; and as I look at it from any angle, it is scary – huge, overpowering, empty. There are no windows; just sealed up doors, with heavily rusted hinges, and tall weeds growing everywhere. It’s just a massive cold structure of cement. In the afternoon, I can visualize the dust, cobwebs and calmness in it; and at dusk or night, it looks sinister. The zoning sign in front of it says the land will soon be converted into luxury apartments and stores.

But what strikes me most, is the broken window office that stands on top of it. The people who once worked there are long since dead, and have long since either gone up or down; and when they worked in the place, they would have looked out on the lake on one side – with all of its comings and goings; and on the other side, they would have seen the city in all its moods and seasons. They would have seen buildings rise and fall; depressions and recessions and wars come and go, and eras emerge and then disappear. But what of these people? Did they believe? Did they repent? Where they saved?

As I walk along the path – which clearly states “Cyclists yield to Pedestrians,” I constantly have to jump out of the way of the cyclists – some are polite and ring their little bells; however most, are not. And it was on one of these afternoons that I found my little bird. I was walking along at a leisurely pace, due to the mugginess of the pre-rain air, when just beside a bush, I saw him: a pigeon with a broken wing.

I watched him for a moment as I took off my shirt to capture him, but was saddened by how easy it was, as he was so hungry and dehydrated that he staggered about three steps and then pooped out. All of this happened in less than a minute; and a minute later, the rain started to spatter; and then, ten minutes later, it started to pour. I felt so happy that I had arrived in time. From there I wrapped him up in my shirt so that he wouldn’t hurt the wing further, and drove him to the animal rescue place, thankfully, only about two miles away. All the way along he turned his head around and around with a terrified look, which tore away at my heart, until all of it came to a relieved conclusion when the rescued place took him in and said that they could probably save him, or her.

The part of this that makes me praise God, is that He created the animals in the first place, and that He cares for them; and I also thank Him for giving me the compassion to love and care for them. The second part that makes me praise God is that He inspired me to get something out of this, to glorify Him. For a few weeks prior to that afternoon I had been thinking of writing about selfishness, and this bird solidified the idea.

What struck me as sad was how everyone that afternoon simply walked or cycled past the wounded bird, and ignored him. They were downtown to have fun and relax in the sun; not to save the life of a little bird.

Each time I walk along that path I see selfishness in its most obvious form. I see people with bodies that have been sculpted by hundreds if not thousands of hours of weightlifting – much like magnificent antique sports cars from the 1950’s – and they irritate me. How can anyone dedicate their lives to simply having muscles? – never mind the cost of joining and staying in the fitness clubs, and the time spent to drive to and from these places? What about the pointless of it? What about the selfishness?

Next, I see the cyclists – some of whom are just your average folks with cheap bikes, or families out for an afternoon ride – and some are not. The ones who are not, have expensive -- very expensive, foreign bikes; bikes that if sold, would feed a poor family for half a year. These people are selfish, as they are only paying tons of money to show off to the world what they can buy. They are riding on flat land for the most part, which makes their 12 and 18 gear aluminum and titanium bike frames just a waste of money; and that’s the point: they’re wasting money. They’re selfish.

As I continue my walk, I pass a store that sells anything and everything for the boating crowd, and once inside, I see navigational equipment, sails, rigging, all-weather clothing, sea barbeques, books on knots and …. And as I look around the store, and see the antique brass diving helmets and buoys and ropes; it’s easy to picture myself out on the high seas and zipping around the world catching the trade winds and “roaring 20s (if indeed they’re not the same thing). I see a life of splendor, with crisp sails snapping above – or “aloft,” as sailors say; and whitecrests riding over massive, but friendly, waves. I see pulling into deserted coves on uncharted tropical islands to escape storms, and I see endless weeks under balmy starry skies. But as I continue to walk around the store, and flip over the price tags on things, I realize as I did with the cyclists and bodybuilders – how selfish it all is, as one properly equipped yaught would probably cost more than to provide clean drinking water and sanitation for an entire year for a village in the third world.

Next, I pass by the liquor store – whose parking lot is always full, and I think of the alcoholics I know or have known. I think of their failed marriages, unemployment, degradation, and squalor; and I see them with their liver disease, shaking hands and bleary eyes. I see the crippling effect of their illness in everything they do. And on the other side of this equation, I see the shareholders making tons of money from the misery of these people; I see the government making lots of money on alcohol taxes and licenses on restaurants selling alcohol; and I see lots of advertisement space being sold to alcohol companies. Anyone involved in the sale of alcohol is a parasite I think. It is at times like this that I realize that at the very core of every person – is selfishness.

From here, I wander into the tourist sector, where I see boutiques selling everything possible to help people throw their money away; and I also see beggars and homeless men. Some sleeping right there in there in from of me, under the sun, in the afternoon. I see women with designer French purses that would feed a homeless man for three months, and I see men with Swiss watches that would clothe that same homeless man for two years. I see middle class kids and adults with tattoos – which only a few years ago only an anti-social would have. And I try to figure out why a person would want to pay to make their bodies ugly, when there are people pulling fries out of garbage cans for dinner. I could go on and describe the obese patrons I see ordering jumbo this and jumbo that, and drowning the food in imported alcohol, but by now the reader gets the idea. Selfishness is at the core of each person.

As I consider the images of that and many other days like it; in my mind, I see the skyline of my city – with all the bank, insurance companies and other logos way up high on gigantic buildings. And, I can also see the homeless beggars who sit at the entrances of these buildings all day, and sleep on the warm-air vents at night. I see the Mercedes and 1000 dollar suits and manicured nails on men; and I see the abused and homeless kids hanging around the Christian drop-in center. It may seem over-dramatic to say this here, but, I see selfishness.

As in all things, it is God who gets the final word, and selfishness is no exception. So, with that in mind, here are some Bible verses to think about.

“We that are strong should support those who are weak, [those who are sick, poor, lonely and so on], and not please ourselves.” (Romans 15:1) From this, it is very clear: We must not please ourselves, as this, is selfishness.

“As I please all men [people] in everything I do, I don’t look to gain from it, but [I] look to make others have gain, so that they will be saved.” (1 Corinthians 10:33.) In this verse, we are told to not be selfish, but rather, to work our lives to make other’s lives better. And to the Christian reader, the added point is that by living an unselfish life, we can become examples of Jesus’ unselfishness; which might bring non-believers to Him.

“All people want things for themselves, [and] not the things that are of Jesus.” (Philippians 2:21.) In this verse, we learn that people only want to live to please their selfish desires, and that this contrary to what Jesus is. The “things that are Jesus,” are to live a godly life; which means, among other things – no selfishness.

In concluding, it is essential to note that Jesus’ life was that of pure unselfishness; He never owned a thing, never put Himself before anyone, and never did a single thing for personal gain. And as I have known many selfish people over the years – stingy, demanding, only thinking of one’s self types, it’s interesting to note that how by living the opposite of how Jesus lived – they ended up miserable. Anyway, I think the little bird turned out alright, I know that unselfish people turn out alright, and by reading this article, I pray that you will turn out alright.

May God bless you.