A parable of a little bird

In a nice and warm nest, high up in a huge tree, there was a little bird. She had been quite busy during all her life, busy with eating the food that her parents brought her. Day and night she had been staying in the little nest, and every once in awhile she had been crying a bit (well, she called it praying) to signal that she wanted more to eat. But after all, she was very happy with her world; the safe and cosy nest in the tree, the delicious food she was brought, even if not fast enough all the time - according to her - or always in the way she preferred. But she didn't forget to sing songs of thanksgiving for this miracle: the food that so amazingly gave her strength and filled her with new life and joy, again and again. Meanwhile, the feathers slowly grew.

She didn't know much about flying though. But for some reason she didn't think that flying was really meant for little birds like her. And since everything was already pretty well organized around her she even got the thought that flying was maybe not a necessary thing at all in a birds life, she wasn't sure if it would ever be part of her life. Why bother to fly when everything is served?

But the little bird grew a bit more, and so did her shining feathers. She was still little - compared to the size of her parents - but one day her mother saw that it could now be about time for the little bird to get the surprise of her life. And her mother, without any warning, suddenly started pushing her out from the nest!! First the little bird reacted by crying and screaming loudly, wondering what was happening, what was wrong, what could she possibly have done to deserve this treatment, why couldn't she stay there? Then she also happened to look down from the nest for the first time ever, and was filled with an immense fear, because the nest was indeed situated very high up in the tree, and it sure looked scary outside of it. Her mother gave her another little push. At that moment her father landed next to her in the nest, and, seeing what was about to happen, he looked at her, smiled, then blew gently on her feathers and said: "Now, my daughter, it's time for you to stretch out your wings and fly!"

Well, "wings", it was the parts of the body that went up and down so quickly, and made it possible to float with the wind somehow, she sure knew this, she had seen it when her parents left the nest and arrived back to it with food. But how on earth was she supposed to do this herself, practically and not only in theory?

She made some attempts to move her wings up and down, first slowly, then more quickly, more firm, and suddenly she felt a last push coming from behind - and away she was.... First it was a great shock! She moved the wings desperately, as if fighting for her life - which she was indeed!! She suddenly forgot how to breathe while concentrating on moving the wings. Then it happened the other way around: she forgot for a few seconds how to use the wings while breathing, until the view of the ground - quickly approaching from below - made her remember again, remember this new and fascinating thing. So this was flying!!!!

She enjoyed this greatly, experimented by flying high and low, discovering new things everywhere, flying further and further each day. And one evening, when returning to the nest as usual, she found herself singing a brand new song from her heart. She knew how to improvise, how to create new songs, but this song was not only coming from her, she felt it was inspired. She praised the Holy Bird for having created her into His image, and for having given her this new ability to fly - and making it possible for her to fly with Him (this, she had now learned, was in fact prayer). She sang about the beautiful fields, about the ocean far away, about the forests, the flowers and all the other precious things she had seen, and about other birds she had met, and the different kind of food that could be found where they lived. She wanted to share these incredible experiences with all the other little birds in the neighbourhood (especially those living in nests in the same tree as where she grew up), she wanted to encourage them to try flying themselves. And she was also hoping to find some friends among them who had already learned how to fly and who appreciated it as much as she. There were indeed such birds! 

But to her surprise there were also other birds among them who protested when hearing her song, calling it a wild phantasy, a fairy tale, and who angrily said: "This isn't possibly true, there are no such things as oceans and flowers, fields and forests! There is in fact only one place in this world - One True Tree - where it is safe for us to be, all other things you mention must be false. Watch out for them, and watch out for other kinds of birds that don't look like us, don't sing like us, and are eating other kinds of food than we do. Their food might be poisoned! Here in our tree we get our precious food every day, and our peaceful sleep, we don't need anything else! Please, stop with that crazy flying thing of yours, and stop annoying us with your stupid songs, come and be like us again, stay here with us!" 

The little bird could hardly believe her ears, how could these birds say such things? Why didn't they want to believe in her? If they only knew what they missed! She felt sorry for them, but what could she do? She tried to tell them that since they had only seen such a little part of the world, how could they then know about the rest? But her efforts was in vain...

Then she suddenly heard a whisper from within, and recognized the familiar voice of the Holy Bird: "Don't worry, my beloved, He said, take no offense by what they say, rejoice in your new life and let every day be an adventure, full of surprising discoveries together with me!"

As for these other birds, He assured her, they were resting under His gentle wings, and one day - maybe - the eyes of their hearts would be opened too, and their wings stretched out to the never ending discovery of all the mysteries and depths of Truth. 

ã Charlotte Thérèse, 2004