“What We Can Learn from the Birds and The Lilies”
- Kierkegaard Background
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813–1855) was a Danish philosopher and theologian who was widely considered the father of existentialism. He was the author of many works that often focused on the human condition, which included concepts like anxiety, despair, faith, and individual existence. Kierkegaard was brought up within the official state church, the Lutheran Church of Denmark. Soren’s father raised him strictly Lutheran Orthodox and passed on his son (?) guilt and melancholy. “His father was obsessed by guilt at the memory of having as a young boy cursed God.” (Auden, 1966, 3), this he believed had cursed the family. His father had died while he was engaged in his theological studies at the University of Copenhagen, though this made him deeply saddened, he continued and got his master’s degree. His mother, though he did not write much about her, was important in his life. She originally came from a lower class social background and Soren felt a serious connection to her. Meanwhile, Kierkegaard was still searching for his purpose which happened to change course when he fell in love and got engaged to Regine Olsen. He had loved Regine too much and didn’t want his melancholy to affect her. He felt that he was unfit for marriage and felt that his inner struggles would hurt her.
In 1845, with Regine in his thoughts, he wrote the Stages of Life where he examined life into three parts: the aesthetic, the ethical, and the religious. He further explained these stages in his Christian Discourses, where he uses the parable from Matthew 6:24-34 of the birds and the lilies, which happens to be the focus of this paper.
- Introduction
In his Christian Discourses, Kierkegaard uses a bible verse from Matthew to mimic our human life through the analogies of the lilies and the birds. In the case of the lily, he was perfectly fine living next to the beautiful stream until a bird came flying down and put different thoughts into his head. Tempting him with a tale of a beautiful field full of lilies living together in happiness. This made the lily feel lonely and second guess his own living situation. The bird offered to uproot the lily and fly him to the field to be with the others. Once his anxiety was so great and he could not help himself, he took the bird up on his offer. However, on the flight to his new residence, the lily began to wilt and perished before reaching his goal. In the second story of the wood pigeon, she was happy collecting food for just what she needed for that day, completely content with never a worry. Until one day she met some tame doves who lived on a rich farm, who told her stories of how they never have to worry about food and have plenty saved up and will never starve. The wood pigeon became envious of them and began to worry about her food supply and came up with a plan. She would sit with the tame pigeons overlooking the farm and at the end of the day fly into their coop with them. However, the farmer noticed the strange pigeon and put her in a separate cage. The next morning, she was killed by the farmer. Kierkegaard uses these analogies of the lilies and birds as teachers of silence, obedience, and trust as the path to overcoming human anxiety through a true and personal relationship with God. These bible verses “show that we are not supposed to be self-sufficient but we are summoned to trust God ‘with a whole undivided heart.”(Silva, 2016, 28) It is our faith and trust in God that will relieve our anxieties. These discourses reflect his three stages of life which will be explained in detail throughout this paper.
- The Aesthetic Stage, (Silence and Beauty)
Kierkegaard defines the first of three stages of life: the aesthetic life as being devoted to pursuing immediate gratification and avoiding boredom. We search for passive enjoyment and are never satisfied; we are always looking for the next best thing. In the analogy of the lily, he was perfectly happy with the beauty of his surroundings and living with silence; there was only the beautiful sound of the stream. He was perfectly content and satisfied with his being; he had everything he needed to sustain his life. According to Kierkegaard the bird is living on his daily bread, not too little, not too much, just what God provides him. “Here it appears that the bird is a teacher: it is such a situation that to judge by the outward condition, one must call it poor, and yet it is not poor.” (Kierkegaard, 1974, 17-18) He was not poor at all, perfectly content, that is until the bird put alternative thoughts in his head. At this point the lily was in the aesthetic stage where he began to be bored with his surroundings and looking for something better. Could the bird represent a challenge or lesson from God as a way to test the lily’s faith, or create a path toward the next stage of life? The lily compares its current existence with something he now believes is a better experience. Because of this, he had developed an uncontrollable anxiety that would ultimately lead to his demise. The same would be true for the wood pigeon, she was perfectly content collecting and eating that day’s daily bread. It was not until the tame pigeons began to brag about not having to ever worry about collecting food and that they will always be provided for. In comparing herself to the other pigeons her anxiety began to build for an easier life which ultimately led to her death.
“All worldly anxiety has its basis in human beings being unwilling to be content with being human and, under the influence of comparison, becoming anxiously desirous of being different in some way.” (Kierkegaard, 2010, 99)
According to Kierkegaard both the pigeon and the lily are models of quiet trust in God. “But what does this silence express? It expresses respect for God, for the fact that it is he who rules and he alone to whom wisdom and understanding belong.” (Kierkegaard, 2016, 29) They both existed in the present, finding their contentment in the simple things and in each moment. It was when they became affected by outside influences, they began comparing themselves to others and the lily and the bird were tempted by a new easier life, they began to live the aesthetics’ life of the relentless quest for new pleasures to help avoid boredom. At this time, they became distraught with their current life and anxious about finding a better one. They both lost their trust in God’s ability to provide for them.
- The Ethical Stage (Obedience and Purpose)
According to Kierkegaard the transition from the aesthetic stage to the ethical stage, the “leap” is a matter of choice. The aesthetic stage is unsustainable; the continuous pursuit of pleasure and new sensory experiences eventually leads to boredom and emptiness. A person at this stage chooses to live a life according to duty and the universal ethical principles. However, one begins to realize how hard it is to live by these demands of moral law and eventually it leads to guilt and despair. Kierkegaard believes that at this point our failures can only lead to only one thing, a personal relationship with God. Like the two parables, both the lily and the pigeon had total trust and obedience to God. They never had anxiety or had to worry about food, their “daily bread”, because they knew God would provide. Kierkegaard says that the true Christian believes God will always provide and it is the heathen that worries about such things.
“In comparison with the ungodly melancholy of the heathen, the bird, which poverty is without the anxiety of poverty, is care-free; in comparison with the pious faith of the Christian, the carefreeness of the bird in the light-mindlessness.” (Kierkegaard 1974, 25)
For the birds and the lilies do not worry about their circumstances, their next meal or their future, they simply exist in the current moment, trusting God. It is this trust that Kierkegaard presents as the model for human life.
- The Religious Stage (Joy and Surrendering to God)
Lastly there is the final stage, Kierkegaard considers it the highest and most difficult of the three stages to achieve. He argues that human anxiety occurs when humans are caught between two conflicting powers: the world and God and good and evil. It is having to make a choice that causes conflict and worry, which is the root of human existence. This stage requires you to be your authentic self by taking a “leap of faith” and developing a personal relationship with God. Kierkegaard states that this form of true obedience requires us to be silent and forget our own plans and to open ourselves to God’s will and plan. This relationship will rise above any pursuit of pleasure and the following of universal morals. For Kierkegaard this is what it means to be a true Christian.
“But the lowly Christian does not walk into the snare of optical illusion, he sees with the eyes of faith, and with the swiftness of the faith that seeks God he is at the beginning, he himself before God, content with being himself.” (Kierkegaard, 1974, 42)
The difficulty at this stage is absolute obedience to God, embracing the absurd and irrational. This is the example the birds gave us in the Gospel of Matthew, they were completely content with their life and never had to worry about where their next meal would come from. They had absolute obedience and belief in God to provide their “daily bread.” The lily and the bird live in the moment and are free from any torment over life’s possibilities. For Kierkegaard it is faith, obedience and a commitment to God that relieves our anxieties. The belief that God will take care of any needs we may face. This is the ultimate goal in life, to achieve this state of belief and joy that does not depend on any external circumstances, only to have faith.
- Conclusion
What can we learn from the bird and the lily? Kierkegaard interpretation of Christ’s teachings is still relevant in today’s society, it is a reminder for us to not get anxious with things that are out of our control. As we learned from the fable, we can not live our lives in comparison to others and we need to accept our own imperfections. It shows us through the example of the bird and the lily, how to live a life of silence and obedience and to trust in God’s plan for us. They had developed a deep respect for God’s sovereignty and acknowledged him as the only source of wisdom and understanding. “Just as God has called us to greater righteousness, a broader love, and a deeper piety, he calls us to trust in his provision by seeking him first in faith.” (Silva, 2016, 32) The lily and bird were silent and did not question Him. They had full trust in God to provide for them and never had to live with anxiety. Kierkegaard’s message for us is that peace is not found in escaping anxiety; it is found in having a true relationship with God through being humble and having trust. If God provides for the lily and bird, he will surely provide for us.
“Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more that clothing?” – Matthew 6:25
Joshua Hedgecock 