Fire Free Bird

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

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

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

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

As I constantly talked in a soft and reassuring voice, I
reached out to embrace the bird in my hands. Her terror gave
her strength to fly from my grasp, only to crash against the
ceiling and then a wall.

How I longed for this bird to know that I loved her and wanted
her to be safe. I wanted her to live, to know freedom, to
experience movement, to fly, to sing again outside my window.
I enlisted the aid of the angels who protect the bird kingdom
as I continued my monologue to my feathery visitor. Again I
reached for her and succeeded in keeping her trembling, soft,
velvety body in my hands. She let me carry her with hardly
a flutter to the waiting balcony, where she could safely
recover from her unexpected adventure.

That bird was 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.

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Taken from the Marshall House Journal, No. 37, February, 1995.
Copyright 1995, 1997. Marshall House. All Rights Reserved.
You may save this article or send it to a friend, provided
this attribution paragraph remains with the article. Jeanie
Marshall is an Empowerment Consultant specializing in deep
transformation through energetic awareness and clearing.
http://www.mhmail.com

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