I think the bird's problem was that it assumed the Lord was speaking in
everything everyone said, and not discerning what parts were the Lord's
voice, and what parts were the opinions of others.  Perhaps there was a
mixture of both in what each person said.  The bird did have a gift that
needed to be shared, but perhaps not in the way the people advised.  Also,
another thought that struck me as I thought about the story this afternoon
was that not only do we minister to the Lord, but it's the Lord Who
ministers to others, not us;  we're just the vehicle.  So it's more about
learning to listen and be open to God's workings, rather than loading our
schedules up and running in every direction so that we can minister.

Very thought-provoking story.

Peggy