The words of the psalmist rang out about the sense of liberation felt by the bird held captive in the snare who was now released. The door flew open and out the bird sailed into a clear sky. Such jubilation! Such freedom!Sometimes in life we find ourselves trapped in situations like that snare. We are prisoners of circumstance. Our wings no longer work. Our song is silenced. The other birds strut past in their freedom and denounce us as less than bird. They make fun of our cramped, withered wings. We cannot fly! We are nothing! We are not like them! Why do you not sing with joy to be in your cramped, painful, and dark little cage?
When the snare is opened...
Oh, the fear! Wings so cramped and ill-formed from lack of use. Skills of flight nearly forgotten for being diminished in the cramped cage and laughed at and belittled by the other birds who roamed free. The lack of sleek, healthy feathers from no food, no companionship, and no help. The fear...waddle to the opening. It is so big. It is so frightening. The cramped cage is familiar. The cramped cage is....a sort of home. The opening, though, how it calls out. The open sky, how it whispers to come fly!
That first feeble, awkward circle into the open spaces.... Fear keeps the bird close to the ground...what if I fall, it wonders? The vast sky is so big...
Finally, the bird darts higher and higher into the sky. Such jubilation Such freedom! The snare is open and the bird is free at last.
Look around you - there are people trapped in snares all around you. They are cramped, marginalized diminished, laughed at, and made to feel they are less than what they truly are. Look around you and set the captive free.
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