As Fast As The Crow Flies

As fast as the crow flies, I thought to myself. Our train was leaving the station as I watched this big black bird glide alongside us. His life probably spent near the train station growing accustomed to the slow moving machines harboring his observer. Amazing I thought, he’ll never know anything more than this train station, although he can fly above the cities and look over them all; he’ll never see past his immediate surroundings or think past his next meal. He doesn’t know how big the world is or about all the other places and people living in it. He’ll never understand politics, work, traffic, school, marriage or governments. He doesn’t think about tomorrow or the problems it may hold. Oh to be a crow.

Wouldn’t it be great to live his life and be able to leave the worries and troubles of life and live for the day? To be able to forget about the fears, worries and doubts that plague this existence. Just for one day, one single day to be able to gaze down on the world and the cities without concerns or cares. What would that be like? Just to be a crow.

He’ll never understand my world; he’ll never understand my life or my experiences. Even if I tried telling him about all the things he’ll never know about, he’d just flap his wings and wonder why I wasn’t throwing him any bread.

Never knowing sadness, loneliness, emptiness, joy, happiness, excitement, or love. He’ll never know the experience of other cultures or eating food that you don’t like. He’ll never understand what it’s like to give a child a Book of Hope, to do a school assembly, give a testimony or perform a drama; he’ll never see lives changed. He’ll never hear God speak or see his work. To be a crow is to never have any purpose or any dreams for your life, no drive or ambition, no one to fight for or look forward to seeing or hearing from.

For those of us who’ve experienced these Book of Hope events in life, would you trade them? If someone said you could trade everything you have right now for the life of an average bird; would you give everything up for a life of simple existence? Would you want it?

Thank you God, that I’m not a crow. Thank you that you’ve created me with a purpose and a story to tell. Thank you that you’ve created a new heart in me and entrusted me to spread the message of your love and truth to hundreds of young people around the world. Thank you that I’m not a crow. Flying there looking across the tracks at some big machine moving as fast as I am; wondering about what that tall person is thinking while watching me… thinking about more important things like… lunch.