It's all about parenting......

Spiritual resource to share: the inspiration of friends





I loved this story that was embedded in a Christian Science practitioner's comments on a weekly Bible study. (Thank you, Janet Hegarty, C.S. of St. Louis, Missouri! To read her full comments, click here.)

One summer two robins built their nest on our back porch. It was fascinating to watch the nest come together and then, eventually, to see the baby birds appear. The tiny birds were well fed and carefully protected. They grew quickly and each day the nest became more crowded.

One morning we looked out the kitchen window and saw one of the young birds perched on the edge of the nest. As we watched, he eagerly flapped his wings and flew to a nearby branch and then he joyfully hopped about in the tree and continued to test out his flying skills. Soon, another young bird perched on the side of the nest and took flight, and then another.

The last bird, though, just couldn’t bring himself to take off. He perched on the side of the nest all right, but he just stayed there – for hours.

Out in the yard, the other young birds, under the watchful eyes of their parents, had made great progress with their flying skills.

About mid-afternoon, when the early flyers had gained their full independence, flying freely and finding their own food, the parents turned their attention to the little fellow still perched on the nest. The mother bird found a worm and sat on a branch in full view of the nest. Her message was clear, “This worm is for you, but only if you come and get it yourself.” Time passed, the mother bird didn’t give in, and at last the young bird gave his wings a try. The mother bird gave him his reward and then watched over him from a distance until he, too, had gained his full independence.

This scene illustrates the kind of loving persistence that our Father-Mother God showers on each of us as we work to discover who we really are. This is our probation, our time for trying our wings under the watchful eye of divine Love. And the good news is, this process continues to go on, even after what we call death, until each of us discovers and proves our true, perfect, spiritual selfhood.





To share your thoughts on this or to explore this idea further, please feel free to be in contact with me, add your own comments below, email this article to a friend, or add to the healing finds and sites on the web to the right.