Free to Soar

Anonymous

One windy spring day, I observed1young people having fun flying kites in the wind. Multi-colored creations of varying shapes and sizes filled the skies like beautiful birds darting and dancing. As the strong winds busted against the kites, a string kept them in check.

Instead of blowing away with the wind, they arose against it to achieve great heights. They shook and pulled, but the restraining string and the cumbersome2tail kept them in tow, facing upward and against the wind. As the kites struggled and trembled against the string, it seemed like they are saying, "Let me go! Let me go! I want to be free! "They soared beautifully even as they fought the restriction of the string. Finally, one of the kites succeeded in breaking loose. "Free at last, " it seemed to say. "Free to fly with the wind. "

Yet freedom from restraint simply put it at the mercy of an unsympathetic breeze. It fluttered3ungracefully to the ground and landed in a tangled4mass of weeds and string against a dead bush."Free at last" free to lie powerless in the dirt, to be blown helplessly along the ground, and to lodge lifeless against the first obstruction.

How much like kites we sometimes are! Heaven gives us adversity and restrictions, rules to follow from which we can grow and gain strength. Restraint is a necessary counterpart to the winds of opposition. Some of us tug at the rules so hard that we never soar to reach the heights we might have obtained. We keep part of the commandment and never rise high enough to get our tails off the ground.

Let us rise to the great heights, and recognize that some of the restraints that we may chafe5under are actually the steadying force that helps us ascend and achieve.

热词天地

1.observe[əb'zɜ:v] vt.& vi．观察；研究

2.cumbersome['kʌmbəsəm] adj．笨重的；累赘的；难以携带的

3.flutter['flʌtə(r)] vt.& vi．振翼，拍翅膀；烦扰，坐立不安；（旗帜）飘扬

4.tangled['tæŋɡld] adj．纠缠的；紊乱的；混乱的；杂乱的

5.chafe[tʃeɪf] vt.& vi．擦热（双手或皮肤）；擦伤；惹怒；使焦躁