Little Bird grew restless in the nest.
It was crowded and noisy and messy.
The Wind called, "Come away with me and see the far away world. You were meant to fly!"
So Little Bird flew to the Wind and the Wind carried her far, far away.
She flew over the sea to the other side of the world and back again.
She flew over mountains and deserts and fields.
She flew through storms that were dark and dangerous and frightening.
She flew to the top of high cliffs and mesas where she could see for miles and miles.
She flew to places so sad that her heart ached with sorrow.
And she flew to places that were so beautiful that she was breathless and no melody could come to her mouth to sing of the wonders she beheld.
She flew until her wings were ragged and torn.
She flew until she was full and then weary of flying with the Wind and the storms and the skies.

Little Bird flew back to the nest.
She had heard Mama Bird calling in her dreams.
Mama Bird had never stopped watching the skies and she smiled when Little Bird came home.
She sat upon an old high branch alone in the evening sun.  Her feathers glowed in the fading light with all the colors that ever were made.

"What have you learned from all your miles of flying, Little Bird?"

"I have learned that I am resilent," said Little Bird, happy to have learned such a big idea.
"Ah, yes!", said Mama Bird, "That is an important thing to learn."
"And what else did you learn, Little Bird?"
Little Bird thought about all she had seen and all that she had learned.
And she said, "I have learned that there are storms that try to swallow me whole and storms that try to send me the wrong way.  There are storms that try to break my wings.  But there are also storms that are only in the sky and the rain never reaches the ground."

"And?", asked Mama Bird, her bright eyes glowing with that knowing Mama Bird light.

Little Bird looked up to the high branch.  Night was falling and all she could she was a shadow where Mama Bird once sat. Night was coming and Mama Bird would soon be gone.

"I learned that I miss you, Mama Bird!! I miss your wings and the way they held me close to your beating heart and kept all the storms at bay!  I miss the sound of your song in the morning when the day is new and everything is possible.  I miss the way you showed me how to fly even though it meant that I would go far, far away!"

"And what else, my little love, my little chickadee?"

"I learned that there are other wings, Mama Bird - all over the world - who will hold me if I need.  They do not feel like your wings, Mama Bird, but they are good wings, safe wings, wings filled with love!"

"And?"

"And I have wings for holding, too!  My wings can shield other Little Ones and keep them safe when the storms come!  Little Ones who never had Mama wings to hold them close. My wings, even though they are worn and torn and some of my feathers are broken - my wings can wrap around the Little ones who are afraid and give them shelter."

"And what of God, my little Love?  What did you learn of God when you flew so far from home?"

"Oh, Mama Bird!  I learned that God is everywhere!  He is in the mountains and in the valleys.  He is in the storms and in the calm.  He is in the pain and the sorrows and He is in the joy and jubilation. He is in the eyes of the Old Ones and the hearts of the Little Ones.  And I can hear his song everywhere I go."

"Yes! Now you have it, Little Bird.", said Mama Bird, a laughing sort of sound in her singing voice.

Little Bird heard her wings take flight with a soft, rustling sound, like a whisper and a prayer.  She looked up to the high branch but she couldn't see Mama Bird anymore.  Her night had come and Mama Bird had flown on.

"I love you, Mama Bird!!", Little Bird cried out into the night.  "I love you!  I always did and I always will!"

Far away, out where the stars were shining, Little Bird heard Mama Bird singing.  Long and low and full of joy and tenderness and peace, Mama Bird's song echoed across the skies,  "And I, you, Little Bird - my love, my chickadee!  And I, you."