FREEDOM
The magnificent killer whale swims the vast ocean – north to south, east to west. He seems to live in a world of freedom. No unseen borders called cities, nations, race or countries. No time schedules. From the depths of the ocean to gliding along the surface – FREEDOM.
The graceful eagle soars through the air with it’s powerful wingspan. It too seems so free. How many times do we hear “Free as a bird?”
So many times there’s a longing to escape to greater freedom. Escape where we are and maybe who we are. Yet it’s only at the point that we realize and accept who and where we are, that “we” as an individual become free. FREE TO MOVE ON.
If the whale struggled with being in a world of water, his time, energy and potential would be wasted. He needs air to breathe, but if he lived in a world of air, he wouldn’t survive. It would be his death – not freedom. As he accepts where he is, there is a freedom to move on. He can use the water to help him get to the Atlantic Ocean, to the Pacific Ocean and to where he needs to be to find a mate or food and do whatever it is Killer Whales do.
Likewise, if the eagle struggled against the cold winds, his time, energy and potential would also be wasted. Instead he uses certain wind and air currents as support to soar and glide more easily. Although he needs provision from the land and sea, if he couldn’t fly and had to live there, he would be very restricted, limited and far more vulnerable. The land supports the trees and rocky cliffs where the eagle nests and finds shelter. The land and water supplies food, but it’s in the air that the eagle is most magnificent and able to soar. His greatest freedom comes from realizing, knowing and accepting where he is and what he has available and where he wants to go…to use and make the most of what is within his present world.
And so it is with us. Our greatest freedom starts in accepting who and where we are at this moment and starting from here just as we are, where we are. Then our focus, time and energy can be used to take steps forward, prepare us for the future and help us make the decisions we need to make to get to where we are going.
You might buy a plane ticket going from the United States across the ocean to England. That ticket will do you no good if you are in an airport somewhere in Canada. No, you would need to know where you are. You would have to start where you are with the planes that are in the Canadian airport and a ticket that will get you a seat on a plane going to the right destination to make the right connection. If you are going to the USA and get on a plane where everyone is saying they can’t wait til the plane arrives in Germany, tune in and get off that plane fast – it’s not where you’re going either.
So where are you now? Who are you now? What choices can you make now that will help you get to where you want to be? What choices are keeping you where you are or keep you going around in circles? What direction would you like to go now? Be like the eagle on wind currents – make the most of what you do have this moment, the people who stand by you at this moment, who encourage, guide, teach, support and give to us so our lives will be enhanced. Who are the people and what are the decisions that will be like the wind under your wings to help you soar? As you go forward, remember that God will also meet you right where you are and right in the middle of the biggest mess or desperate situation that seems so hopeless, if you ask him. He would love to be part of your journey and to be the wind beneath your wings to help you soar – to grant you His wisdom, favor, love, knowledge and all the tools you need along that journey!
(this is adapted from the original writing dedicated to Youthdale Summer Camp)