Article February 14, 1970 Issue

Let Them Try Their Wings!

SYBILLA M. BRUNING

While walking along a garden path, a woman was suddenly startled by a baby bird gliding closely past her. The mother bird was flying below the young bird as if to protect it from crashing to the ground. When the young bird was just a couple of feet from the ground, it started beating its wings and soared up and away.

The mother bird followed for just a short distance. It appeared as though she wanted to see how it got along on its own. The birdling kept right on. The mother bird stopped and lighted on the ground. She turned her back and hopped toward the tree from which they had started. Having let go of her offspring, she returned to her other duties in the nest.

The woman, a student of Christian Science, stood still and thought about the incident. She marveled at the ease with which the mother bird had let the nestling go, once she saw that it could fly. She asked herself, "Have I let go of my child? Am I still flying after her, so to speak, even though she is married, to see if she is doing what I think she ought to do?"

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