A lumberjack hiked into the woods with his axe and before chopping down the first tree, noticed a mama bird building a nest in it. He wanted to warn her so he banged on the trunk with the blunt end of his axe until she flew away to another tree. Unfortunately, he had to scare her out of that tree, too, because it would be cut down.
This happened a number of times, until after flitting from tree to tree, the flustered mama bird flew to a high rock to build her nest. She was finally safe. If the lumberjack could have talked to her he would have told her at the start, “You have to find a better place to settle because all these trees are coming down.” 1
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This morning I had the thought that if we could get a higher altitude view of life, especially in the moments when we’re mired down in the weeds or mud of a tough circumstance, it would make it easier to go on. Imagine walking through a late summer corn field when the corn’s taller than you are, following someone who is cutting a path or design in the field. From the ground’s perspective it would all look very much the same: rustling rows of green corn stalks as far as the eye could see. If you could fly up above the field and look down, however, you’d see the design taking shape. You might even have an “Aha!” moment, smiling and saying, “I get it now.”
Along the Narrow Path 