Go Tell It On The Mountain by Robert Wolff

Author:Robert Wolff [Wolff, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Creative Syndicate
Published: 2012-01-28T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

The Fifth Trail:

“The Path of the Caretaker”

The afternoon sun rises high in the sky as its light bolts dance through the trees.

Tops of leaves glisten as they are kissed by the warmth of its light. This afternoon, we are journeying along the fifth trail, and Luis, Simole’s cousin, is my guide.

As we begin along the crooked path, his eyes seem to catch every movement in the jungle.

It’s easy to see how much Luis loves the rainforest, especially to observe his kindred spirit for the animals who call it home.

Luis asks me to stop.

Above us, some 150 feet or so in the trees is a loud rustling and commotion in the branches.

He points upward.

“Up there, Ms. Gretchen. Look.”

Our heads tilt to the sky.

“What is it, Luis?”

“It’s time for the baby eagle to leave its nest, and it doesn’t want to.”

“What happens if it doesn’t leave?”

He laughs. “Oh, the mother will push it out.”

I’m not getting the humor in it.

“But Luis, is the young bird ready to leave? Won’t it die?”

“Oh no, Ms. Gretchen. Nature has made the choice, and the time has come for Nature to take over, for it’s given the young bird all the ability it will ever need to survive. Now it has no choice but to use it or die.”

“How cruel.”

Luis reassures me.

“Just being kicked out of the nest won’t hurt the bird. Just watch, for it will quickly forget it’s been a baby as it becomes an eagle.”

As I sit watching this rite of passage for such a young creature, Luis’s words sink deep.

Here is this creature that has lived more by instinct than by choice; and regardless of the decision its parents or Nature made, the odds are stacked in its favor that it will survive.

And here I am, a creation of the same Great Creator, but with one big difference; I have the power of choice in my life.

I start to think how different my life could be if I would start using more of that power to change things in my life that for too long have needed changing.

As Luis and I make our way along the trail, having watched another similar ritual, this time by a taper and its young, I was amazed to have witnessed such a rare event as these two, on this day, on this mountain.

At the end of the trail, like clockwork, Simole, dressed in a brick colored dress and sandals, greets us with those warm brown eyes and that sweet loving smile as the wind tosses back her flowing locks of silvery hair.

This time, with a big beaming smile, I am the first to speak. “Simole, I think I’m starting to get the hang of this lesson-learning thing on each new trail.”

“Well, let’s hear.”

“I think what we just witnessed was Nature at its best. The power of instinct and without anything or anyone telling it, how the eagle and the taper knew it was time to make their young survive on their own.”

“And how did such a sight affect you, may I ask?”

“Simole, I think the bird and animal had no choice.

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