Gary Richmond in his book 'A View from the Zoo', tells of 15 red-tailed hawks crowded in a cage at the zoo where he worked. The hawks were stolen by poachers and had been there a long time as evidence for a court trial. This did not make sense to Gary. The poachers were free and the 'poachees' were being punished. There was only one answer: they must escape, 'accidentally'. With no one looking, feeling elated, Gary opened the cage door. An hour later he checked the cage and behold all 15 birds were still there! So he waved his arms to urge them to go. The birds flew out, but they landed not 10 feet from the cage door. Clearly, they did not want to leave, in fact, some had walked back into the cage. Finally, Gary gave up. The hawks, which were designed to lift their wings to heaven, were now more comfortable being in captivity. Sadly, many Christians find themselves in captivity. Coming to Christ, immediately they are freed from self-absorption, selfish ambition and the need to earn the right to be loved. The door to our cage is flung open and we are free to soar, with the past forgiven and the free gift of God's love and His Spirit in our hearts. But, for some reason, many feel more comfortable remaining in the cage. Freedom can be a frightening thing. We are used to living within well- known, time-honoured boundaries of self-effort in order to be accepted. Religious self-effort, i.e. traditions of holy days, dress codes, worship styles, conforming instead of thinking, all stifle creativity. We are Christians, and yet we may well have missed the point. Are we really free? NBF meet 6.30 - 7.40 pm every Sunday - phone us on 01834 861391 for directions, or just arrive!
