We are all made to fly

Once upon a time there was a king who received a gift of two magnificent peregrine falcons from Arabia. They were the most beautiful falcons he had ever seen. He gave the precious birds to his head falconer to be trained.

Many days later the head falconer informed the king that though one of the falcons was flying majestically soaring high in the sky, the other bird had not moved from its branch since the day it had arrived.

The king summoned people with knowledge of birds and requested them to do something to make the bird fly. But no one could succeed. The bird refused to move from its perch. Having tried everything else, the king announced a big prize to any person who makes the falcon to fly.

In the morning the king was thrilled to see the falcon soaring high above the palace garden. He said to his personal servant “Bring me the doer of this miracle.”

The man who won the prize was a farmer. He came and stood before the king. The king asked him, “How did you make the falcon fly?”

The farmer said to the king, “It was very easy your majesty. I simply cut the branch where the bird was sitting”

We are all made to fly – to realize our incredible potential as human beings. But instead of flying high we sit on our branches, clinging to the things that are familiar to us. The possibilities are endless. But they remain undiscovered for most of us. We cling to the familiar, the comfortable and the mundane. So, most of our lives are mediocre instead of exciting, thrilling and fulfilling.

Sometimes God is kind enough to cut the branch we are sitting comfortably, so that we could soar high. By changing nothing, nothing changes. We cannot discover new oceans unless we have the courage to lose sight of the shore. Let us remember this truth whenever our routine and comfortable life shatters by unforeseen circumstances. God may be helping us to soar high in his subtle ways.

- N.Ganeshan