Conflict and Its Aftermath
The True Story of Two California Condors
In the 1980's, an article appeared about a pair of endangered California Condors. These two birds of interest were the parents of the only California Condor egg that specialists could visually verify had been laid that season. At the time, there were less than 25 such birds remaining in the wild. As characteristic of the species, the nest was positioned on the face of a steep cliff. Although a pair of California condors alternate the job of incubating their egg, usually without a major incident, this particular couple began squabbling as to which would care for the egg. When the male sat on the egg, the female would come and jab him in the face to push him away. When the female sat on the egg, the male would do the same. At one juncture, the two left the nest to take their fight into the air. The birds became so absorbed in attacking the other neither tended to the egg. This hours-long struggle for dominance led to an unhappy ending. In the midst of their conflict, the parents inadvertently knocked its offspring off the cliff.
The Analogy
The analogy to people is obvious. For example, one senior pastor who had conflict with members of his board wrote, "In the end, what had been a growing, vibrant ministry was decimated. My biggest regret as I look back is that I did not contact you earlier. I am writing this note in hopes that other congregations could be encouraged to have the wisdom to seek help before it is too late. The pride of thinking that we can always handle such situations on our own carries too great a price."
Whether you are experiencing two-party or multi-party conflict,
we can help prevent such an aftermath.
Take a few moments to explore our website to learn how.
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