I love parables. In the scriptures, when Christ tells them to the multitude, He often follows up with a soul-searching question. This parable, however will not have a follow-up as I leave it up to you to do your soul-searching and find in it what is for you.

There once was a group of tropical birds in a cage. Every day, they had new fresh water and new fresh seed. The bottom was cleaned occasionally and sometimes there were extra little treats added in to the bottom of the cage. The birds seemed content. They sang and chirped when one of the bigger entities came close and whistled at them. They often heard other birds chirping outside and attempted to mimic them. They could freely fly around within the confines of their cage, but they seemed generally content with life.

One warm day, one of the bigger entities took them outside because their living space was dirty. It required a deeper cleaning. As they were outside, some of the outside birds flew in for a closer look at the caged birds. One of them chirped, "We are free! We can fly wherever we want! We have no confines." And they all taunted the caged birds. The birds looked to their bigger entity and chirped, "We want to experience that too!". The entity warned them that there are many perils out there and they are much safer within the cage. But they persisted. The greater entity sadly relented and opened the door.

Out they flew; all but one. "I am fine here. You should be too", he chirped. The first bird flew up to a branch where he spied what looked to be a large metallic bird flying high in the sky. "I want to do that!", he chirped. Up he flew, higher and higher. The cage was just a small speck on the ground. "I am free! He chirped", but immediately at that moment, he got caught up in the turbulence of the jet streaking. His last words heard were, "Oh that I would have stayed in the cage where I was safe!"And then he was sucked into the engine of the jet to be seen no more.

The other freed birds which saw this chirped, "foolish bird!". The next freed bird saw what looked to be a nice treat on the ground, and flew down to inspect it better. "Wow, this is great! Food to be had whenever and wherever I want! I TRULY am free!". And just at that moment, a large furry entity sprang upon the unsuspecting bird. His last word heard were, "Oh that I would have stayed in my cage where food was provided for me"and devoured him, never to be seen again.

The remaining freed bird, observing the events chirped, "Silly birds." And off he flew to explore more and more of the free world. The cage with the ever opened door was no more in sight and was miles and miles away. This bird though he was smart since he witnessed the early demise of his fellow caged friends. When he saw food on the ground, he quickly swooped down to grab the food and swooped up to the safety of the branches. This bird felt he was absolutely, truly free, and had forgotten all about the cage and the bigger entity who provided food and water daily. He forgot about his other friend who remained in the cage. Months passed, and the bird was flying around with the other birds, but as the seasons come and go for the bigger entities, the weather started to get colder. "Brr", he chirped. What is this? And the weather got increasingly colder and colder and white stuff started to cover the ground. Food was getting harder and harder to see, and the water, where he was used to drinking turned into a solid mass.

As the bird was getting more and more weak from no food and water and from the bitter cold, he finally remembered the cage, his friends who has perished, the big entity who was so kind to him, fed him, had fresh water and safety from the harsh cold. His last words heard were, "Oh that I had stayed in the cage where I had warmth and security".
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