Starlings and French Fries

Last Thursday I was eating my Chick fil-A minis in my truck sitting in the parking lot.  I looked across the way to the McDonald’s parking lot, and on the curb, I saw an interesting drama play out.  A starling had found a French fry and was trying to keep it from another starling who thought it should be shared.  The second starling was a slightly lighter color, indicating a “teenager” starling.  The first starling ran a short distance ducking behind a light pole.  But the younger starling kept up, squawking the whole time.  The owner of the French fry would not relent.  He ran a little further behind a bush.  But the younger starling followed right along, still squawking.  I thought to myself, “How selfish!  Why doesn’t the older bird share with the younger bird?!”  But then I realized that the older bird was trying to wean the younger bird.  The older bird realized that winter was coming, and the younger bird needed to know how to fend for himself.  The older bird didn’t want to be an enabler.  It was time for “Junior” to be off on his own.  The older bird actually cared for the welfare of the younger bird.  Or at least, that’s what I imagined.  Solomon said in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child (starling) in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”  I know, I know, I may have added to the Scriptures, but you get what I am saying.  Train your child, teach your teenager, and then let them fly … to find their own French fries.