Flying Free

This is the final installment of my Christmas inspirational blogs. Since the first Sunday in December, I have been reposting an updated issue of the blogs I posted five years ago. I thought they were kind of cute, so decided they were worth revisiting. All the pictures are of animals either my daughter or I photographed on our trips to Kenya. I hope you enjoy the pictures and the story.

When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”, and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” Luke 2:22-24 (New International Version)

 

Dove 1: What are you doing out there?

Visitor: Who me?

Dove 1: You’re the only one out there. The rest of us are stuck in these cages.

Visitor: I’m sorry about that. What are you doing in there?

Dove 1: I asked you first.

Visitor: Well, see that couple over there, the one with the baby?

Dove 2: The people who are looking to buy one or two of us?

Visitor: Yes. I have been following them all over the country side for months. Their baby was born about six weeks ago, and I think He is the reason I have been tracking them.

Dove 1: But you don’t know why you are following them?

Dove 2: That doesn’t make any sense.

Visitor: I know. I just wish I could talk to them. Find out who the baby is. Other animals I have talked to have said that He is a savior and a king.

Dove 1: All I know is that if you don’t want to end up in one of these cages with us, you should fly away. You should appreciate your freedom while you have it.

Just then a man lifted the cage with the two doves in it and handed it to Joseph.

Dove 1: Fly away now!

With that, the visitor raised his wings and did as the caged bird had commanded. He flew high into the air above the crowded city. Yes, indeed, he had his freedom. Looking down on all those people in the market place on their way to the temple, it dawned on him.  That’s why the baby had been born. That’s why He was called Savior and King. He had come to grant them all freedom, the freedom from sin, that only comes from believing in Him, in Jesus Christ.

(This picture is of my daughter when she was staying in Saikeri, Kenya in 2010. 

It remains one of my all time favorites. I hope you enjoyed this series of blog posts. 

Have a happy New Year and may all your travels be safe.)