Fear of Flying

        Diana and Paul, my Colorado friends, own two dogs and a large parrot. One day their parrot escaped their house and flew to the top of an Aspen tree in their back yard. But the silly bird, though it knew it could fly up, didn’t realize it also had the power to fly down. Diana stood outside for 20 minutes cajoling until finally--nervously and very gingerly—the parrot crept down the tree, claw by claw, branch by branch.
       Even as I laughed at the story, I wondered: how often am I just like that silly parrot? How often do I fail to use all the power I possess? When we hold ourselves back, avoiding risk, it’s usually because we’re afraid.
      But as E. Hubbard wrote: “The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually be afraid you will make one.”
      Scripture says, “Be not afraid.”
     A modern philosopher put it this way: “Feel the fear--and do it anyway.”
     Next time I feel afraid to take a legitimate risk, I’m going to think about that silly parrot. And instead of limiting myself, I’m going to spread my wings and fly.
     How about you?

Cracking the Egg

“Look Grammy, it’s coming out!” My granddaughter’s voice held awe. We were in the Chicago Museum of Science and Technology, which is chock full of interactive “stuff” for kids to experience. Now we stood watching a chick hatch from its egg. As the egg cracked open, the chickie began to wriggle its way into the light. A few minutes later, my granddaughter tenderly held the newborn chick in her hand.

I remembered this scene as I recently read a passage from The Book of Awakening by Mark Nemo. “From the view of the chick, being hatched is a terrifying struggle. Confined and curled in a dark shell, half-formed, the chick eats all its food and stretches to the contours of its shell. Finally its own growth cracks the shell... In that moment—as its world is breaking—the chick must feel like it is dying.

“Transformation always involves the falling away of things we have relied on. We feel as if the world as we know it is coming it an end. And that world is.”Yes. I have gone through transformations, and breaking out of my shell of “what-is” into the new world of “what will-be” has involved a sense of panic and pain. Yet the struggle has always been worth it.

What is struggling to be born in you? Is this a good day to ponder that? Don’t let fear keep you in a shell that has grown too small.