A Bird in a Gilded Cage

“A gilded cage,” or “Fool’s Gold” are likely metaphors for haplessly chasing something shiny. Very likely every one of us has been bedazzled by the siren of some temptress, on one level or another. It becomes a problem, if not a disaster, if you sell your life (or soul) for some bejeweled fantasy. “A Bird in a Gilded Cage” was written in 1900 by Arthur J. Lamb and Harry Von Tilze. This “tear-jerker” is said to have sold over two million copies of its sheet music. I’ve wondered if its tug was due to a “glad-it’s-not-me” sense of relief, or was it a sympathetic moan,”Oh! You Poor Thing?” Here are a few lines from the song….

…happiness cannot be bought with gold,
Altho’ she’s a rich man’s bride. She’s only a bird in a gilded cage,
A beautiful sight to see,
You may think she’s happy and free from care,
She’s not tho’ she seems to be,
‘Tis sad when you think of her wasted life,
For youth cannot mate with age,
And her beauty was sold for an old man’s gold,
She’s a bird in a gilded cage.

I risk sketching an imposing narrative on wrong-headed relationships—human-to-human, or human-to-obsession. Instead, you need only to rake your brain to uncover your own index of similar sad stories. It need not be. Human choices, though complicated, to one degree or another, remain, well, human choices. When faced with a dubious choice, do you make clear-headed evaluation before acting? How many times did your mother say, “If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do it, too?”

The Book of Ecclesiastes speaks to this issue; they envy the things their neighbors have.  And in a classic of Aesop’s Fables, a wild Ass grouses about his state of affairs; this wild Ass salivated for the apparently luscious life of a tame Ass. As it turns out, appearances are deceiving—The wild one learns that the tame Ass endures beatings and other severe treatment. This discovery is an epiphany; his own conditions, while not perfect, now seem to be quite satisfactory.

There is a legend that God invited humans to bring their burdens to the altar and leave them there forever; in doing so, each person must take on the burden of someone else. As it turns out, each person in choosing, finally decides to take back his original burden. The grass on the other side only seems greener! Moses transcribed this dictation from God: Do not covet. Merriam Webster defines covet; to desire (what belongs to another) inordinately or culpably,

Jesus takes a dramatic tack; Give more than is asked or expected of you. As usual his teachings are radical. Yes. He often upends things and relationships. “We are The World,” the 1985 charity song, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, caught on like wildfire. It seemed that the Universe resonated with its theme. Could it be that we really are “the world;”

We can’t go on
Pretending day-by-day
That someone, somewhere soon make a change
We’re all a part of God’s great big family
And the truth, you know, love is all we need. We are the world...

And. The Book of Genesis makes it clear; we are responsible for each other…even the ones we don’t like, or those who don’t like us. If there is to be a better world, or better conditions, or greener grass, you and I play a larger role than we realize in bringing it to fruition.