|
That First Step
The one that finds you no longer grounded. The step that says, "There's no turning back!" You are about to fly or fall to the ground. I can see it clearly in my mind and it takes my breath away. We subscribe to Birds and Blooms magazine. The latest issue includes a picture that was sent in by a reader. It's of a bird that has just stepped off a branch. It's wings have not yet opened. It's just frozen in time. I know the bird isn't thinking "Okay, now what do I do?" That bird knows what it is doing because it was created to fly. When it steps off that branch it doesn't hesitate at all. It just does it. We were not given wings but we were created to take that first step. God will feed that bird, but he won't throw the food into the nest. That's why it was given wings. "When you get to the end of all the light you know and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: either you will be given something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly." ? Edward Teller Close your eyes when you finish reading this. Picture a bird on a branch. Now see it take that very first step into the air before it opens it's wings. Can you imagine what that freedom feels like? If you can't, then that's where you must begin. You must learn to see yourself taking that first step and not turning back. In my live talks I often ended with this story. A man was out walking along the mountainside when he came upon a small farm. He decided to visit it. As he got closer he saw a fenced in area with a bunch a chickens in it and one large bird. When he finally reached the fence, he was amazed to see that the large bird was an Eagle. He went up to the farm house and knocked at the door. "Sir," he said to the farmer. "I was just passing by and I saw that you have a pen full of chickens and an Eagle." The farmer smiled and said, "Son, that's not and eagle it's a chicken." The young man insisted that it was an Eagle. The farmer was finally frustrated by this man's persistence. "Young man, you are most likely one of those city folk that really wouldn't know the difference. Kindly continue on your journey." He closed the door. The frustrated young man knocked again. "Sir, anyone would know the difference between an Eagle and a chicken. That is an Eagle!" "My boy, I raised that bird from it's birth. I have always had it in with the chickens, it lives with the chickens, eats with the chickens because it is a chicken!" Now the young man was angry. "Permit me to prove to you that bird is an Eagle." The farmer laughed and finally gave in. "Sure, go ahead," he said with a chuckle. The man ran over to the fence and pulled the big bird out. He found a ladder and climbed to the top of the nearby barn. Crawling out to the very ledge he held the bird in his hands and said, "You are an Eagle, fly!" As he let go of the bird it fluttered to the ground. The farmer was laughing even harder. The man came down from the barn and insisted that he be given one final try. "I can't wait to see this one!" the farmer screamed out laughing. The man then walked back up to the mountain side where he first saw the farm. He stretched his arms out as far as he could and said, "I don't care what you've been told. I don't care that you were raised with chickens. I don't care if that man only fed you chicken feed all of these years. I know what you were created to be...You are an eagle, now fly!" The bird began to flap its wings. It stretched out it's neck and lifted off of the young man's hands for a second and then began again and again until he finally stepped off. Suddenly as if it were something he always did all of his life, that Eagle began to circle the farm. Its wings were stretched to the maximum and it flew far, far away. Now, I know that some of you have been fed some stuff for most of your life. I know that some people around you have continued to keep you down by lying to you. I know that over all of those years you were given negative thoughts of being a failure, not being good enough, and accepting the smallness of your environment as the reality of your life has simply kept you from reaching your highest potential. You were told and you accepted, that you are too tall, too short, too fat, too thin, too young, too old, too black, too white. They were wrong! Your Creator has sent me to tell you... "You are an eagle, FLY!" "I wish you enough!" J ~ Bob Perks ~ |
