My magician friend Jim uses doves in his show. He has a very nice air-conditioned workshop located behind his home were he builds quality magic illusions. In his workshop among many woodworking tools is a large dove cage. Jim loves animals and he takes extremely good care of his doves, and makes sure they’re happy. He spends time with each bird and gives them all plenty of exercise.

Jim explained to me that birds make a mess when they eat. He says they drop and scatter more birdseed than they eat. Their messy eating habits is the reason for keeping his birds in the workshop and not in his home.

It seems that there was also a little chipmunk that would make his way into Jim’s garage to eat the scattered birdseed that was on the garage floor outside the dove’s cage. Jim never tried to keep the chipmunk away. He would always say, “The chipmunk needs food too.” On accession the little chipmunk would get very brave and squeeze first his head and then his body through the bars until he was inside the cage with the doves and the main source of the birdseed. The little chipmunk would pack his jaws as full as he could get them with the birdseed. His checks would expand to be huge with the large amount of birdseed he’d collected. It was impossible for the chipmunk to get his head back through the bars and return to the safety of his home. The chipmunk had no clue as to why he couldn’t get out of the cage. He didn’t understand that if he would spit the birdseed out of his mouth he would then be able to squeeze back through the bars and go to the safety of his home. So, the chipmunk would just sits in the bottom of cage with the doves, dodging bird droppings, with his jaws all puffed out.

When Jim would notice the chipmunk sitting in the cage with his jaws puffed out he would reach inside, pick the chipmunk up, and place him on the floor. The chipmunk would take off running as fast as he could, and leave the workshop. Jim never worried about the chipmunk trying to bit him as he reached in the cage because the chipmunk’s mouth was full of birdseed and there was no way he was going to spit it out. Every few days, Jim would find the little chipmunk looking up at him from the inside of the birdcage with his little jaws as full and puffed out as big as they could be. Jim would pick him up, place him on the garage floor, and the chipmunk would be on his way.

Just like a hungry little chipmunk we are often the creator of the unpleasant situation we’re experiencing. That’s when we need a best friend, like Jim, to reach in, pick us up, and set us free.