Chapter 78The Birds Which Had No Wings
If you think you have a burden, just remember
the beautiful and inspiring story which Schiller, the
German author, loved to tell the children:
"Once upon a time, the birds had no wings.
They crawled about the earth. Then one day God threw
wings at their feet and commanded them to pick up the
wings and carry them on their backs. At first, it seemed
very hard. The little birds didn't want to carry those heavy,
unwieldy wings. But they loved the Lord and, in obedi-
ence, they picked up the wings and carried them on their
backs.
"And, 10, the wings fastened there! What
they once had thought was a hampering weight and a
burden, enabled them to fly!"
It is one of the great lessons of life, that the
burdens we carry by necessity or by choice-instead of
weighting us down, actually can lift us up!