Column by Dr. Ann Hollingsworth
It is told that when baby eagles leave the nest, the mama eagle pushes them out and as they flounder trying to fly, at some point the mama swoops under them and helps by holding them up with her wings. But she leaves them out there as do all mama birds when they leave the nests. Once they leave, baby birds do not go back to live in the nest.
This is one of many life lessons that nature and animals can offer to us humans. Many problems among people happen because baby humans never truly leave the nest. They leave and fly awhile and then come back, expecting the nest to be just as it was before. Birds grow and would not fit back into the nest again. This happens with humans also.
Our birth nest includes our DNA-related family, but also includes the environment of our early years. It includes the place, the culture, and the values that framed that part of our lives. Human growth is more than just physical. It involves growth in thinking, feeling, and acting. When we act like the baby eagle and are afraid to leave for something possibly different, we end up stunting our growth. However, if we dare the attempt to learn to fly, there will be help to do that. It may not be Mama Eagle – more often it is Father God, if we will look to Him and let Him help.
Life can include a lot of nests. We can get comfortable in a job, in a church, in a group of people we hang out with, etc. We may be growing in ways that outgrow these different nests. A friend once told me that when things don’t seem to fit or we start feeling really restless in a certain nest, God may be preparing us to leave and go into/build a different nest.
Change can be very scary. But it also can be a new flight – one we will never enjoy if we do not also dare to get out of the nest.
