Tuesday, August 11, 2009

A Windy Day


A Windy Day

There is a place in Seattle, near an old. abandoned steam plant where people gather to fly their kites. Dragon kites, and box kites and many more kinds of kites can be seen soaring in the sky. There are adults, youth and children holding on to kite strings, and wearing smiles. They feel a wonderful freedom as the wind sails their kites across a big blue sky, and some of them soar very high. Sometimes strong winds free the kites from their hands and those kites sail away to distant destinations.

A kite becomes a friend and it's always hard to lose a friend; some times a friend must be set free because we can't control the wind. We blame ourselves and yet it is the wind that chooses to free to kites and friends from us. Eventually they may return. I saw an old man return a kite to a child and watched a child hold her kite gently in her hands. The little girl said to her kite, "Why did you leave me? I love you." Many love songs begin like that. I saw a kite sail in the sky free as a bird and then return to a little boy. He held the kite almost too tight and said, "Welcome back friend." There is a joy that fills our hearts when kites and friends return to us.

Our children can be like kites; they fly higher and higher and one day their strings, their ties with family slip through are hands and they fly way. We pray that the wind will be kind to them and that they will continue to soar beneath the warmth of the sun. They usually return and yet they may feel that they do not need our help to fly. That's what it means to grow up and begin a new life. Our children were born to learn how to fly on their own.

Bear

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