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Silas Birdbrain's Mistake
When Mr. And Mrs. Robin
Birdbrain arrived from their winter vacation, they decided to
set up housekeeping in the town of Flutterford, which is
located in the north part of Birddom. Although weary with
their long flight, they lost no time in getting a comfortable
nest home prepared with the finest and softest material that
could be found, and soon Mrs. Birdbrain was sitting on four
beautiful little blue eggs. Meanwhile Robin concentrated on a
theme of encouragement singing, “Cheer-up, cheer-up,
cheereee,” at the top of his voice. In nature’s wonderful way,
it was not long until they had a lovely family of four baby
birds to feed and protect. Although they may have looked ugly
to others with their big mouths and voracious appetites, to
Mr. And Mrs. Birdbrain they were the sweetest family in
Flutterford. Robin drove off birds twice his size who dared to
come too near his precinct, and whenever the least bit of
danger was sighted he scolded angrily with all his might until
things were safe again.
Time went by quickly and soon three of
the birds hopped out on a limb and began flexing their wings,
But Silas Birdbrain did no join them. No sir! Not Silas! He
said he would not “go out on a limb” until he could do it
right, so he stayed snug in the nest and scolded a little
louder when he got hungry. Smiling, he said to himself, “I’m
going to play safe. I’m not taking any chances.” One bright
sunny morning Sally Birdbrain saucily dared the other two to
jump off the limb and fly. The dare was accepted and soon a
very scared robin was floundering around on the ground and the
other two laughlingly envious of her achievement. It was not
long until they followed---but not Silas. Silas chided, “You
go ahead and make a fool of yourselves if you like---all the
birds in Flutterford are laughing at you. I’m not going to fly
until I know how, and then I can do it right. I’m not taking
chances on getting hurt.” With this Silas stretched his pretty
wings admiringly.
As the weeks went by the three
robins became more and more fleet of wing. They caught their
first juicy worms and gradually became self-reliant as they
joined in playful games of hide-and-seek with other friendly
birds in the neighborhood. Meanwhile Silas began to complain
bitterly of the selfishness of the other birds because nobody
was paying any attention to him. His hunger made him realize
that he must do something. He called his brother to him and
talked it over. Finally they made a bargain whereby each one
in the family would take turns and bring Silas some worms to
keep him from starving. This gave Silas a false sense of
security.
One morning Silas awakened chilled through
and through. Jack Frost had been around and soon the woodlands
became a riot of colors. Some leaves actually were pulled from
their branches as the wind tugged and rustled them. Besides
the rustling of the leaves there was a lot of commotion in
Flutterford. All the birds from Wingsville and Birdtown were
there. Silas had never seen so many birds congregated in one
place before, nor had he seen such excitement. “What is going
on?” he asked irritably. “Can’t you be more quiet when I’m
cold and want to rest?” “Mother says we are going on our
winter vacation cown south,” said Sally Birdbrain. “It will
soon be cold here and the ground will be too hard for worms.
You better get ready quickly, for we are leaving soon and no
one is staying behind.”
For once Silas was alarmed.
“Oh dear, what will I do?” he said. “Help me somebody, and I
will learn to fly.” But Silas had grown heavy and he had never
exercised his wings so that his predicament was altogether
hopeless. Wistfully he saw them take off and fly away.
Straining his eyes he caught sight of his brother and two
sisters flying as confidently as any. Silas began to reflect.
He knew now that by not trying---for him a tragic and fatal
mistake. Now he was dependent on others for life itself, and
he felt so useless he did not think it would do any good to
ask anyone for help.
Silas ruefully surveyed his
misspent life---so young and yet so completely a failure. He
mused, “It is better to try and fail, than to fail to try.” He
thought if he had his life to love over again, he would assume
the responsibility for himself and if possible for others if
he could---for he knew that by helping others he could help
himself indirectly. Never again would he bargain for others to
supply food he should be getting for himself. It deprived him
of ever becoming self-reliant. Finally he determined that he
would not blame others for his own shortcomings.
There
are many Silas’ in the world today in every neighborhood.
Christians who refuse to accept responsibility because of a
feeling of incompetence soon discover their talents shriveling
and lessening. Burdens for a Christian are what wings are to a
bird. The more you accept them, the stronger and more capable
you became. If you surrender moral convictions to gratify
selfish whims and to feed fleshly vanity you lose
irretrievably and discover a widening gulf between yourself
and those who follow the will of God. Psa. 106.15 says, “He
gave them their request; but sent leanness to their souls.”
Similarly James says, “Ye ask, but ye ask amiss that ye might
consume it on your lusts.” Pride cost Silas his usefulness,
and moreover his life. Fear of what other birds might say or
think prevented him from trying. Paul says, “The gifts and
calling of God are without repentance.” Rom 11:29. Esau traded
his birthright for food. What are you trading yours for? Life
is rigorous and Christian life is very demanding if we are to
make a success of it. So is any other calling demanding. The
Christian way demands our best and in order to be sure, we
must be obedient. “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat
the good of the land.” Isa.
1:19.
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