The sun warmed our skin, the water lapped around our feet as we walked the shore of Lake Michigan. Late July and the water finally warms to a tolerable temperature, actually refreshing instead of bone-chilling cold. It was our last beach walk before heading back to the city.
A lone gull stood on the sand just ahead and following his gaze we saw something move in the water. A fin? Silver flashed and we saw a shiny salmon, moving slowly in the shallow water. Only knee deep out there, that water was too warm for such a creature. As I focused it was clear that this fish was in trouble. Turning, tipping it moved weakly–capsized in the calm water.
We looked to the gull and back to the fish and then out into the expanse of this great lake. What had appeared as a blur on the water earlier was no blur at all. Hundreds of gulls waited calmly, floating a hundred feet out or so. This lone onshore gull was their sentry, ready to signal when their meal was ready.
I looked back to the silvery fish. Pulsing, straining, it worked to regain its momentum, but barely. Belly up and then on its side like a tiny boat, injured by a storm, this little craft was clearly losing the fight. The gull’s eyes never strayed. Watching, waiting, he paced in the sand, his offshore neighbors waiting for a sign.
My heart broke for the salmon. He was a meal in waiting. No hope for a rally, his movements grew weaker. I wondered why I immediately sided with the fish rather than the hungry birds? He was just one while his body would provide nourishment for many. But still… He was the underdog and when do our hearts not go to the underdog? The one at the disadvantage? The one against whom the deck is stacked?
I often sit in the sand and watch the gulls, their grace offering a meditation in flight. But on this day, in this moment, they became steely-eyed menaces, predators, ready to pounce on a helpless victim. Nature, survival meant nothing to me as my heart went completely to the underdog. I stood on the beach and prayed for a fish.
I prayed that he would die soon. I prayed that he would feel no pain. And yes, reluctantly, I prayed that my heart would be open to enough to consider that these birds, too, need to be fed.