Thursday, April 16, 2009

The Buzzard, the Bat, and the Bumblebee

If you put a buzzard in a pen six or eight feet square and entirely

open at the top, the bird, in spite of his ability to fly, will be an

absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight

from the ground with a run of ten or twelve feet. Without space to run,

as is his habit, he will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a

prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.

The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble

creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on

the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no

doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it

can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.

A Bumblebee if dropped into an open tumbler will be there until it

dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the

top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near

the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely

destroys itself.

In many ways, there are lots of people like the buzzard, the bat

and the bee. They are struggling about with all their problems

and frustrations, not realizing that the answer is right there

above them.

 

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