The songbird was a sensitive and delicate creature. From the day she was born, her sweet melodies filled the air as she sang away to her heart’s delight. She was hardly aware that she lived in a cage because she was surrounded by so much love. One day, she imagined she would become an adult songbird and fly freely.

–

The songbird grew up and became a young woman. She continued to sing freely despite being in a cage and every song expressed her joy and pain. When she fell in love and decided he was “the one,” one reason was because he loved listening to her songs and appreciated her voice.

–

Now with great excitement she readied herself to fly freely from her cage. But the memory of leaving her cage was not beautiful at all; instead it was traumatic. She did not feel loved anymore and was in shock.

–

And not long after that, the songbird discovered that instead of the freedom she had dreamed of, she was simply living in a different cage.

–

This cage was larger, but she was very sad and could no longer sing. Her dreams of flying freely disappeared.

–

Even though she wasn’t surrounded by love in her new cage, she made the best of it and filled her life with other pursuits. The years went by. The songbird was afraid to leave her cage and most of the time she didn’t even remember that she had ever sung.

–

One day, she desperately decided she would add love to her life by having babies. When they were born, she began to sing again and sweet lullabies restored her faith.

–

But then her first baby died and she truly lost her voice. The songbird wasn’t sure she’d survive, but somehow she did.

–

She continued to grow older. Her children brought her joy and kept her busy; they were her life force.

–

But the songbird was tired of her life. When her parents were dying, the stress and loneliness became harder for her to bear. For the first time in her life, the songbird prayed to God for help.

–

Suddenly, melodies began to fill her heart and it was an absolute miracle that the songbird began to sing again. Instead of crying, she lifted her voice to the heavens and her tears turned into songs.

–

–

Now for the very first time in many, many years her heart became light and she felt happy. She had thought she was too old to sing. But the more the songbird sang, the more ugly her cage became. She began to dream again about flying freely.

–

Her dreams tormented her because she didn’t want to destroy her mate. He never expected she would leave their cage even though he was usually angry and cold to her.

–

Because her songs spoke to her with love, the songbird decided not to give up any more of her life trying to make him happy.

–

It was her music that gave the songbird strength and courage. She might have been terrified, but she sang loudly and strongly with determination as she opened up her cage door to leave.

–

And she knew that without her songs, she might never have been able to fly away.

–

She breathlessly flew from the cage she had been in for most of her life.

–

Her safest destination was a temporary stop at the empty cage where her life began. She knew it would ease her terror because it was familiar. Even though her parents were gone, she still felt their presence.

–

Sadly, not long after freeing herself the songbird became ill. She found it ironic that just when she set herself free, she lost her strength to fly.

–

Her wings were broken and she could not see well. Her small cage became a soft nest where she rested so she could heal. During her darkest moments, she thought it was her destiny was to live in a cage for the rest of her life.

–

But music was her freedom. She never stopped singing and her songs became her prayers.

–

With her songs she flew; each one gave her wings. Her heart soared with the gentle melodies and words that God  sent to heal her.

–

As she prayed for healing in her tiny cage, she continued to dream of flying so she could share her beautiful songs all over the world.

–

She just knew that someday she would soar freely with joy and never live in a cage again.

–

–

© Judy Unger and http://www.myjourneysinsight.com 2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Judy Unger with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.