Wednesday 10 February 2021

Come on

It was a warm sunny day and Father Ignatius was alone in the Parish House. He got out in the gardens at the back of the house and sat by the little shrine to Our Lady set amongst rose bushes some way from the main building.

He took his Rosary from his pocket and started praying. A few minutes later he heard a bird singing in a tree nearby. It wasn’t so much the usual singing one hears, nor the panic cries of a mother when a cat or other predator approaches the nest … this was more like a calling type of singing. It was as if the bird was beckoning someone to do something.

Father Ignatius got up from his chair and walked into the shadows to better see what caused this bird behavior.

There on a tree nearby was a nest. He could see it clearly now, even though it was well camouflaged amongst the branches and leaves. And in the nest there were three birds … quite well-grown by the looks of their size and the fact they were covered in feathers.

The mother bird kept flying towards the nest singing wildly and then moving away from branch to branch … then it got down to the ground … and up to the nest again … singing all the time.

The three little ones looked over the edge of the nest but stayed put.

The priest realized what was going on. The mother was teaching her little ones to leave the nest and fly.

There she was hopping from one branch to another singing away: no doubt encouraging her young to take flight. You could almost hear her speak: “Come on my dears … don’t be afraid … jump!”

They hesitated. Looked around, looked down at the ground which seems miles away, and then politely said to each other: “You first.” “No, no, after you …” “Ladies first, I always say.”

And none of them had the courage to take off, whilst the mother is cheering heartily: “Come on, you know you can do it!”

Eventually one of the little ones gingerly jumped out of the nest, his wings flapping madly, and somehow landed safely to the ground. In time he was followed by his siblings and yet another generation took flight and left the nest.

The priest smiled as he saw all four birds hop from bush to bush, and eventually up the tree branches again, and then fly away confidently.

He sat down again at the feet of the statue and reflected on what he had just witnessed.

“Our first steps with the Lord are no different to these birds I suppose” he thought to himself.

“We question, we analyse, we debate and then … perhaps … in time, we come to believe.

“Eventually, we make that first step in Faith. Believing, without having all the answers. Without knowing everything about the aero-dynamics of flight, or the effects of gravity as we leave the perceived safety of our nest.

“God does not ask us to know everything about Him, how He thinks, how He works, and how He manages the universe.

“All He asks is that we trust Him and believe, without question and without hesitation.

“His Holy Spirit will then lead us through our journey to the Father.” 

EXCERPT FROM CHRISTIAN REFLECTIONS

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29 comments:

  1. ...this reminds me of a saying about raising children. "It's important to give them roots and wings." Giving them wings can be the most difficult.

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  2. "Ladies first, I always say.”

    ;-}

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  3. Hi Victor, as it is written, all we have to do is repent, be baptised and we shall then begin to be taught by the Holy Spirit Who will lead us into all truth through the Word spoken to us God's ways and thoughts. God bless.

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  4. A hard lesson to learn sometimes to let go and trust God.
    He sometimes let's us fall to set us free from our own restraints.

    Beautiful post Victor.
    God Bless ✝

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    1. Yes that is the hard lesson, Jan. To trust Him enough to know for sure that He will look after us and care for us. It's a self-imposed restrain, isn't it?

      God bless my friend.

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  5. I adore this story, Victor. All God asks of us is to trust and obey, not understand.
    Blessings!

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    1. That is the difficult part, Martha. To trust, above all else, to trust that He cares for us and we will not come to any harm. So difficult.

      God bless you and your family.

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  6. We have good days and bad days but trust is there everyday.

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  7. I love this! What memories it evokes -- My father, standing in the pool, telling me, "Jump! I'll catch you." (Me, terrified and unwilling.) For no good reason, I've always struggled to trust. Yet, as I age it's becoming a little easier.

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    1. Well said, Mevely. We often struggle with trust. Especially trusting God on pure faith; with no proof at all. However, as we grow older and we look back at our lives, we realise He was there all the time. Saving us from situations we did not even know about.

      God bless always.

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  8. Dearest Victor,
    Such an excellent example from Mother Nature and it sure applies to us for looking at the 3 Anchors of Faith, Hope and Love!
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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  9. What a beautiful thing to witness and a wonderful analogy.

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  10. Nature teaches us so much. You way with words made it such an enjoyable story. Baby steps....or should I say baby wings..."I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky."

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    1. So kind of you, Wanda. Yes, we can learn a lot from nature.

      God bless always.

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  11. Like Tom, 1st of all these excellent comments, I 1st read of Hodding Carter's recommendation when I was a young man with a young family:"There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots. The other is wings." I'm an old man now, 71, and have never regretted following that advice. Birds seem hard-wired to it.

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    1. Yes indeed, Geo. We have to teach our children roots and wings ... both pointing to and leading to God.

      God bless you and yours.

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  12. Of course we don't need to know all of the answers and all about G-d. After all, a G-d who could be easily defined and put in a box and understood would not be worth worshiping.

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    1. So true, Mimi. Thank you for your wisdom.

      God bless.

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  13. A great analogy, Victory. I love seeing baby birds learning to fly. Thankfully there are no cats running loose in the neighborhood!
    Blessings!

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    1. Cats can be quite a menace, Lulu. All our neighbours' cats seem to congregate around our garden. They even steal our cat scarers and repellers.

      God bless.

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