Spiritual Inspiration: Fire Free Bird

By Jeanie Marshall

"I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we only will tune in." - George Washington Carver

This cold evening I am preparing for guests when an unexpected visitor drops into my fireplace. No, not Santa Clause, but a bird that has been nesting in the chimney. I interrupted her sleep by opening the damper to the outside, fortunately before lighting the fire.

 The fall is frightening enough for this little being, but now she is in unfamiliar surroundings, closed to the natural outside. She crashes against the ceiling three times, then a wall, then sits on the floor in a small, gray clump. I approach her, speaking gently. In fear, she flies again to the ceiling, crashing. Again and again.

 She spots the atrium through the dining room window, with plants glowing under amber floodlights. More crashes, this time against the clear window. I open the balcony door, planning to coax her to fly to the familiar outside.

 As I constantly talk in a soft and reassuring voice, I reach out to embrace the bird in my hands. Her terror gives her strength to fly from my grasp, only to crash against the ceiling and then a wall. How I long for this bird to know that I love her and want her to be safe. I want her to live, to know freedom, to experience movement, to fly, to sing again outside my window.

 I enlist the aid of the angels who protect the bird kingdom as I continue my monologue to my feathery visitor. Again I reach for her and succeed in keeping her trembling, soft, velvety body in my hands. She lets me carry her with hardly a flutter to the waiting balcony, where she can safely recover from her unexpected adventure.

 That bird is not unlike so many of us when we are afraid. So often, we fight, squirm, protest, and resist the very thing or things that are in our highest good. We bump our heads and hurt ourselves, and fall into semi-consciousness. We are often wary or unaware of a higher power and gentle, loving hands.

 In the moment my bird friend surrendered she was safe and free.

 And so are we.

Jeanie has an M.S. in Human Resource Development  concentrating in Organization Development. She  facilitates workshops and private consultations  throughout the world, appears as a guest on  television and radio shows, and has produced more  than fifty guided visualization meditations on  audio cassette tapes, and for six years produced  and hosted a local television show, Return  to Center. She has been actively involved  in the human potential movement and organizational  development for about twenty years. She is a  mentor, coach, facilitator, organizational  development consultant, personal development  consultant, and a writer. Visit her website at http://www.mhmail.com/JeanieInfo