I stumbled upon an interesting and, in my opinion, quite hilarious historical anecdote. President Andrew Jackson was a bird lover. One of his favorite birds was his parrot, Pol. When Jackson died his parrot was in attendance at the funeral. But shortly after it had to be removed because it disturbed everyone with its crude language. Here is how the pastor who preached the funeral tells the story:
“Before the sermon and while the crowd was gathering, a wicked parrot that was a household pet got excited and commenced swearing so loud and long as to disturb the people and had to be carried from the house.”
You can’t blame the parrot. They only mimic the sounds they hear. Andrew Jackson is known as one of the most rugged and uncouth presidents in our history. He fought duels, once beat a would-be assassin half to death with his walking stick, and on his death bed listed not killing Henry Clay as one of his biggest regrets. Jackson was a crazy dude, so I’m not shocked that his parrot was booted out of his funeral for too many expletives.
I’m going to be corny here and turn this into a bit of a sermon illustration. I’ve been to several funerals and have never heard a cussing bird. But what I have heard is quite a good deal of lying. What I mean is that anytime someone dies almost all their flaws are hidden and their good points are highlighted. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but it’s not an accurate depiction of humanity. So, I’m picture them attempting to have a celebration of the life of Andrew Jackson. I’m picturing some talking about all the good things he had done, all of his accomplishments, his love for…surely someone or something. And all of a sudden the whole thing is interrupted by reality. Jackson’s swearing bird. A perfect representation of the real Andrew Jackson.
When we stand before God we aren’t going to be standing on the well wishes or good times we’ve had with our buddies. We don’t get to ride on our accomplishments, the things we’ve done, or the people we know. We will be judged based on reality. The preacher can lie and say what a good chap Jackson was to make people feel better. But the parrot doesn’t lie.
Robert Murray McCheyne said it well: “What a man is on his knees before God, that he is, and nothing more.” And perhaps if you bring the family parrot to your funeral we’ll all know who you actually were.
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Photo source: here
