 | Spiritual Inspiration: Fire Free BirdBy 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
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