Once upon a time there lived two birds who lived on top of a mulberry tree that was situated in the middle of a forest.
The birds were both grey in colour. One however, had deep, beady eyes and beautiful, healthy wings. When it flew it was smooth and swift and flew like a delicate feather in mid-air. The other had light eyes that shone like crystals. They were eyes that always looked filled with tears, as though sadness resided in them. Though the bird never spoke of its sadness. This bird also had a broken wing. It had injured itself whilst flying with its bird friends one sunny day. It had fallen to ground until rescue came.
One day, the broken-winged bird and the healthy bird were having a conversation.
“What’s it like to fly with a broken wing?” the healthy bird asked with curiosity.
“I haven’t tried it.” was her reply.
“Why not?” the curious bird asked.
“I’m too afraid to lift my wing, I’m afraid of the pain.”
“What if there is no pain?”
“Why would that be? Ofcourse there will be pain. My wing is damaged!”
“Well, you can’t possibly be 100% certain about that can you?”
“It’s common sense!”
“Okay yes, there may be pain but nothing great ever came easy, right? And who knows, your wing may be healed.”
“But.. it’s..it’s still going to hurt?”
“The pain is short and will shortly pass, if you endure itt, you will taste the sweetness of what is to come after.”
“O-kayy” she said worriedly.
The broken-winged bird moved her wing just slightly. She was nervous, worried, fearful. ‘The pain is short and will surley pass, if you endure itt, you will taste the sweetness of what is to come’, were the words that were ringing in her mind.
She lifted it a bit more, then clenched her eyes shut. A little further out her wings began to spread. If you looked into her eyes you would be able to see through to her pain but she endured, because she decided to have faith that the pain would pass.
Further and further her wings spread. The pain subsided as her wings outstretched.
“Bravo! You did it!”
“Did what?” the broken-winged bird asked as she yanked her eyes open.
“You endured the pain!”
“Oh, I did?”
“Yes!”
“I was so engrossed in thinking about my dream of flying again that the pain became easy to bear.”
“Sometimes in life, when we’re going through pain, that’s what we have to remember. Pain is a thing, sometimes good, sometime bad. But each time we feel it, we are being taught patience and strength, we are being taught to look past this moment and anticipate the ease after it. Without pain, how would we appreciate the good things and good times?”
“You’re right.” the broken-winged bird said. She placed her wings by her side since the injured wing was still causing her some discomfort.
“Are you ready to fly?”
“What? No, that isn’t possible, right now. It was daunting enough for me to even lift my wing for the first time after ages!”
“What do you fear?”
“I fear falling.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve fallen in the past and it hurt. I’m afraid to take the risk.”
“How come you’re not afraid of this branch breaking, you could still fall?”
“Hmm. I don’t know.” The broken-winged bird looked puzzled.
“I’ll tell you why… It’s because a bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because her trust is not on the branch but on its own wings. Believe in yourself.”
“But.. I have a faulty wing, how do I trust it?”
“It isn’t faulty, you spread your wings out moments ago, you proved yourself wrong. Your wing has healed."
The broken-winged bird looked to her wing and then lifted it again.
"It's the fear of the past that is holding you back. Don’t trust the wings, but trust the One who provides for us when we leave our nests empty-stomached and return with them filled. Trust the Maker of your wings. Have good thoughts and take your means, then trust Him. *If* you fall, believe with certainty that He will catch you. Actually...don’t even think *if*, rather have full faith that He will help you and teach you again how to fly.”
“Wow..” the broken-winged bird contemplated on the other birds words for a few moments.
It took a deep breath.
“Ready?”
“More than I ever was.”
“No go take those broken wings and learn to fly.” The healthy bird replied.
“1… 2… 3.. fly!”
The bird raised its wings, spread them wide and high and stepped off the branch and into the atmosphere. “He will help me fly.” She whispered under her breath. Before she knew it, she was flying mid-air with the view of beautiful green trees and pretty blue lakes, rivers and reservoirs. She couldn’t believe it. She was flying!
When she returned to the mulberry tree the healthy bird asked, “what’s it like to fly with a broken wing?”
“It felt amazing. Firstly, because I finally believed I had healed and that my broken wing wasn’t permanently broken. Secondly, I had faith. I trusted He would help me, and He did!”
“See, you’re never too broken to colour the world, never too broken to not learn to fly again. Faith. Faith is what makes the impossible look possible. That, my friend you must never forget.”
The broken-bird winged smiled with shiny eyes. “That.." she replied. “I could never forget."
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