Do You Actually Want To Be Free?

Categories: Léo’s Insights 2024-2025

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A silly song we sometimes hear says, “Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.” As funny as this may seem, it is true. Similarly, everybody wants to be free, but nobody wants to exercise freedom. An interesting observation may help you to understand what I mean.

I have been a bird watcher and studier for as long as I can remember. I have always desired to have the freedom birds seem to have, even if most fall prey to something. As a consequence, I am very upset to encounter birds that have been pinioned, that is have had parts of their wings amputated to prevent them from flying. This is usually done to benefit the owners, whom I believe should consider what it would be like to have their legs amputated.

One day, my wife and I were visiting a Mennonite family that had gone against the standard cultural norm banning animals from the house. These folks had a budgie in a very well kept cage in the kitchen. We were surprised by this display of independence since this community is fairly tight and rules are largely adhered to even if occasionally strange or outdated. In any event, I shared how we had also had a bird in our house for many years. I then asked the dad if the bird could fly. He replied that he thought so, but he had never actually seen the bird fly. I was a bit surprised, as we let our cockatiel fly about the house when we had him. I then asked why he had never let the bird out of the cage.

What transpired next was simply incredible and instructive. The dad got up and opened the cage so the bird could demonstrate that he knew how to fly. But the bird didn’t. At first the budgie was perplexed by the part of his cage without bars. Then he poked his head out and eventually stood on the door sill. He eventually walked out of the cage to the top where we all thought he would take flight, but he didn’t. Actually, the bird was so traumatized by this new development that he quietly returned to his cage, taking refuge on his favourite perch.

We were all astounded by this event and quickly realized the lesson to be gleaned from what we had observed. Like the budgie, most people would rather stay within the confines of the bondage they know than take a risk in trying something new or different.

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