Hang On Tight

When Claire McGarry sees a bird almost fall from a branch, she realizes just how important it is to hang on tight.

When the weather is nice, I like to spend my prayer time on my back deck. It’s my happy place: private and quiet, with a beautiful view of the trees and sky. It feels like a front row seat to God’s creation as birds dart about and bees visit the flowers I’ve planted in various pots strewn about. Witnessing it all draws me closer to the Creator.

Today, as I sat gazing out over the trees, I saw a bird land on a branch. I guess the bird was heavier than we both realized because the branch dipped dramatically under his weight. Had he not been hanging on, claws clutched tight around that branch, he would have slid right off into thin air.

It felt like a lesson on the importance of holding on.

Unfortunately, on this side of Heaven, life is constantly dipping and swaying. It can feel as if the bottom will drop out any minute, without warning. When that happens, it’s crucial that we hang onto faith, and our trust in God, so we don’t slide right off and into thin air.

Sometimes, though, we clutch onto things as our lifeline instead. Money, prestige, material things, and oftentimes people, let us down when strong winds blow. They’re like the leaves of a tree – falling away when pressure is put on them. When they’re what we reach for, we end up in a heap on the ground.

Click to tweet:
When we clutch onto things as our lifeline, rather than God, we can end up in a heap on the ground. #catholicmom

As I continued to watch that bird on the branch, I saw them both rise up and dip down, again and again, until things finally stabilized. It might not have been the experience the bird was expecting. But because he held on with persistence and faith, he finally got what he wanted: a safe place to perch to bask in the sun, with an incredible view of all God’s beauty.

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