A hermit saw once a hawk in the forest. The bird carried a piece of meat to his nest: he rent it in many small bits and started to feed with them a wounded crow chick.
The hermit was surprised that a hawk was feeding a crow chick and thought: “God gave me a sign.” “He does not forget even a wounded crow chick.” “God made that terrible hawk feed a defenseless bird from another species.” “I understand from this that God gives everything is necessary to all creatures.” “And we worry so much about ourselves…” “From now on I’ll stop taking care of myself!” God made me understand what to do.” “I won’t look for food any longer.” “God does not abandon any of His creatures, so He won’t abandon me either.”
No sooner said than done: he sat there, in the forest and didn’t move anymore; he prayed and prayed all the time and did nothing else but this. He spent three days and nights like this, without drinking any water or eating any food. But after three days the hermit was so weakened that he was not able even to raise his hand. Being so powerless, he fell asleep. And he had a dream with an angel. The angel looked sadly at him and said: “It’s true that the sign was for you.” “But you should have learnt to follow the example of the hawk, not that of the crow!”
