This weekend I've been thinking on many things, but I suppose it comes down to flight. However, the two analogies I'm using are not exact parallels, so bare with me. And welcome to the way my brain works:
A Modern Parable* of Kierkegaard’s:
A certain flock of geese lived together in a barnyard with high walls around it. Because the corn was good and the barnyard was secure, these geese would never take a risk. One day a philosopher goose came among them. He was a very good philosopher and every week they listened quietly and attentively to his learned discourses. 'My fellow travellers on the way of life,' he would say, 'can you seriously imagine that this barnyard, with great high walls around it, is all there is to existence?
'I tell you, there is another and a greater world outside, a world of which we are only dimly aware. Our forefathers knew of this outside world. For did they not stretch their wings and fly across the trackless wastes of desert and ocean, of green valley and wooded hill? But alas, here we remain in this barnyard, our wings folded and tucked into our sides, as we are content to puddle in the mud, never lifting our eyes to the heavens which should be our home.
The geese thought this was very fine lecturing. 'How poetical,' they thought. 'How profoundly existential. What a flawless summary of the mystery of existence.' Often the philosopher spoke of the advantages of flight, calling on the geese to be what they were. After all, they had wings, he pointed out. What were wings for, but to fly with? Often he reflected on the beauty and the wonder of life outside the barnyard, and the freedom of the skies.
And every week the geese were uplifted, inspired, moved by the philosopher's message. They hung on his every word. They devoted hours, weeks, months to a thoroughgoing analysis and critical evaluation of his doctrines. They produced learned treatises on the ethical and spiritual implications of flight. All this they did. But one thing they never did. They did not fly! For the corn was good, and the barnyard was secure!"
*An English translation as quoted by Athol Gill, The Fringes Of Freedom: Following Jesus, Living Together, Working For Justice. (Lancer, Homebush West, NSW) pp. 30f.
~~
I am also reminded of a memory from high school. I came upon a newly emerged imago. As I looked at her wide body and wet wings, I thought of how this butterfly could not fly until her wings unfolded and dried; until that time she would be extremely vulnerable to predators. Some butterflies' wings take up to three hours to dry. I looked at the butterfly wondering if she was going to live. She wasn't moving her wings much and I so desperately wanted to help. I knew that my presence would keep away predators, but what if something was wrong? Of course eventually my attention was taken from the delicate process and when I returned the butterfly was gone. I had no idea if she had spread her wings to taste her first nectar or if she had become food herself.
~~
I often think about that moment because I feel that way with people, too. I see something new, the potential for great beauty and grace in a person's life. Perhaps they are awake for the time because of new life in Christ. Or maybe they have been healed from something that was crippling them and they felt their freedom for the first time.
But there is so much that can go wrong and I can not change the nature of life.
I pray that I will be a catalyst to encourage those emerging from chrysalises or eggs to spread their wings and fly. Because if we are content to stay on the ground and the patterns of the world of the barn yard we are born in, we will be eaten without ever experiencing what we were created to do.
love that adult butterflies are called imago because it reminds me that Christ is the, "image of the Invisible God," and, "If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation . . . that is, in Christ God was reconciling himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He had committed the message of reconciliation to us." (2 Corinthians 5:17,19) When we become a new creation in Christ, we are most our true selves, the image of God. (Genesis 1:27)
The only way I know to encourage flight is to fly myself rather than just talk about it. And for that I need to work on my wings (connection with God with knowledge and intimacy) and become sensitive to the Wind (God's Spirit). Then of course I keep an eye out for predators.
Don't let this world clip our wings - to nod at glorious ideas and never actually live. But vigorously flap our newly created wings, find a sunny spot, and fight for the taste of life.
Here's my question for you. Is it better to be in a barn yard, safe from predators but stifled from your true purpose? Or be in the wild where there are predators as no one to tell you anything at all?
My conclusion: I think you end up lunch either way if you don't get your wings and use them.
Further comtemplation:
Colossians 1:9-29
No comments:
Post a Comment