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The Buzzard, Bat,
and the Bumblebee
If you put a buzzard in a pen
six or eight feet square and entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of his
ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard
always begins a flight from the ground with a run of ten or twelve feet. Without
space to run, as is his habit, he will not even attempt to fly, but will remain
a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.
The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble creature in the
air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat
ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully,
until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw
itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.
A Bumblebee if dropped into an open tumbler will be there until it dies, unless
it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in
trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a
way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.
In many ways, there are lots of people like the buzzard, the bat and the bee.
They are struggling about with all their problems and frustrations, not
realizing that the answer is right there above them.
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