Almost Flightless Birds

Haha I LOVE this! XD

Today on my way home from school I was listening to a comedy station on Pandora radio. One of the comedians that came on was the guy from cash cab. One of his jokes was about the distractions of google, and how he went from booking a flight to Cleveland to becoming an accidental ornithologist. One of his jokes in this routine was about bird classifications. Apparently there is a classification of birds called Almost Flightless Birds. That's really funny in and of itself. What does that even mean? "We're almost flightless, but not quite!" I found it really funny, haha. But he went on to talk about flightless birds, and the most pitiful of all, if it were to actually exist, Almost Flightful Birds. He said it's like the same as flightless birds, but with false hope.

The routine itself was really funny, but it got me thinking. Yesterday we discussed hope, and how important it is. False hope is arguably one of the greatest evils inflicted on mankind today. It raises people's spirits with promises that only end up crushing their souls. Like the birds that never fly, these people waste their time in the false hope that something is going to happen when the person giving it to them knows it never will. False hope is the deadliest weapon mankind has at its disposal. If you really think about it, in some ways it's more powerful than an atomic bomb. Sure a bomb can kill people, but false hope can crush their souls. What's worse for a person, being dead with your beliefs intact, or being alive with your soul crushed by the shattering of your hope? It's the second one, in case you were wondering. Taking away the hope of a people crushes them.

To again reference my favorite book series, in Pendragon: The Quillian Games the main character gives people hope that they can escape the oppression of the supercompany that rules the entire planet. He raises their spirits and a rebellion seems imminent. Then, without revealing the plot too much, the spark of hope in the rebellion is crushed, and the main character accidentally caused it to happen. In doing so, the hopes of the people were crushed too. They sunk lower into oppression than ever before, no longer wishing to fight the powers that be. The point? If you really want to destroy someone, destroy their hope.

Now I'm not advocating for false hope, it just seemed apt to discuss at the moment, as I think that hope will be the theme fore this week.

False hope is just the jumping point for the real topic
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 Nearly Flightful Birds

XD Just kidding!

The real topic for today is....

Well I'm not really sure, sort of a summary I guess.
The title is a clue though.

I feel like we are Almost Flightless Birds. Like on our own we are just barely hovering above the ground. We know that we are barely surviving, but still we try to do it on our own because we are proud. We hide things from each other. We hide things from people who want to help us. People who should be able to help us. Why? Well maybe part of it is out of fear. Fear of disappointing those we love. Fear of losing yourself. Fear of falling out of the sky because you have to trust someone else to hold you up. Another part is pride. "Well I can fly just fine by myself!" Can you really? Because it seems like you're just barely staying up off the ground. I think all of us fall into the trap sometimes of thinking that going to others for help is a sign of weakness.

It's really a sign of courage and inner strength.

Do you know how much guts it takes to admit that you're wrong? To admit that you can't do it alone? That takes true courage, true strength. And with the help of others, a nearly flightless bird becomes a soaring eagle, a peregrine falcon zooming up and diving down in the vast skies of hope, truth, and life. On a side note, peregrine falcons are like the coolest bird ever.... My Side of the Mountain was one of my favorite books as a little kid, and Frightful is awesome!

Where was I? Oh ya, inner strength. I think that this is one of the most underestimate qualities of the human person. It is one of the most essential, for sure. I think that many have thrust it aside as something girly, or only for those of a certain type, but inner strenght and courage is really the key to achieveing anything. In order to really believe in anything and stand up for your beliefs, you have to have the inner strenght and courage to fight for them.

Another thing we all have to be is there for each other. It's all well and grand that we can turn to others for help when we need it, but that becomes mooching and really just being a terrible person if we are never their for others. Imagine that you are in the middle of the ocean. Your boat has sank and you are just floating there in a life jacket. Suddenly someone comes along in a boat nearby, and helps you out of the water because they heard you crying for help. What if they didn't? What if instead they heard you but kept on going? In a body of water that large, odds are you would have died. Instead, they listened to your cry for help and came to the rescue. Now I know that's an extreme example, but that illustrates my point well. We have to be there fore one another. Otherwise we're just a bunch of almost flightless birds floundering on our own.

Well it's late and I'm tired, so I think I'll call it a day there. Who knows, maybe I'll end up writing this thing daily!

Oh but wait! I haven't included a verse for today! Well there are a great multitude that fit today's situation. I think that for tonight Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 seems to fit best:
"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken."

Basically it says that there is strenght in numbers, and while we might be able to do things ok on our own, united together we can achieve more that ever possible before.
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I know it was shorter than those in the past, but I'll try and keep a somewhat consistent lenght. I'm still new at this and getting the hang of it, so bear with me :).

So in summary for today: We are all Almost Flightless Birds. Alone we can get some things done, together we can accomplish most anything. While some personal pride is a good thing, too much is not. Humility is the key to survival. In fact humility is a sign of the strong. Asking for help when you need it is not a sign of weakness, but actually a sign of strength and maturity. And we have to help others too. We can't simply let ourselves be helped while we ignore our brothers who might be floundering right next to us. Lastly, community helps us survive. Though I didn't touch on this in the body of the post, and I'll have to do a whole 'nother post on it, you need to find yourself a good community of people. Surrounding yourself with people who really care for you and want what's best for you will make you the happiest you can be in life, and take you the farthest. Find a community that suits you and makes you a better person, and stick with it.

Well that's all for today. Keep flying high, and with help from each other we can all become the peregrine falcons we were meant to be... Did that just sound as corny as it did when I was thinking it? Yeah, probably. Well it's the best you're gonna get, I'm tired. Yeah it's stupid, but you get what I'm trying to say. Insight storage tanks draining quickly... Haha sorry about that.

Tangent aside, really, keep at it. Trust in God and in those who care for you. Find your Hope and never, ever let go. Know that you are never alone. And don't be afraid to seek help when you need it.

Until next time!

~Wanted~