On a recent morning, about 6:30, when my husband Allen went to put wood in our outside furnace, he noticed our cat, Max, up in a tree, sitting on a limb, probably twenty feet off the ground. When we left for work, Max was still there, not making an attempt to get down. We assumed he would eventually get hungry, overcome his apprehensions and escape his predicament, as he has done on at least one other occasion. However, when we got home, he was still there. Not frantic, anxious I would say, and not making progress in leaving the tree. We figured after at least ten hours up there, he might like a little help, even though eventually he would have found the gumption to free himself.
Allen pulled our flatbed truck along side the tree, put a ladder on it and climbed up a couple of limbs to be within reach of the cat. Allen is not a fan of heights, especially when convoluted combinations of truck beds, wooden ladders and negotiating tree limbs are part of the deal. One would think Max might show some appreciation by immediately allowing himself to be rescued. But no. He wanted to hang on a while longer. Freedom was near, but fear kept him trapped. After being coaxed and with fairly gentle man-handling, Max was off the limb. Man and cat returned safely to the ground.
From time to time, most of us get stuck in situations because of fear. Without delving into the amount of fear which might be healthy (for example, we should be afraid enough of bears to know not to share a sandwich with one) and what is irrational, we can at least observe that many are needlessly imprisoned, in one way or another, by their fears -- both large and, more often, small -- for years or even a lifetime. Encouraging us to be set free from fear is a continuous thread in the teachings of Jesus, because he knew how pointless it is to be paralyzed by fear, how easily life is wasted by worry.
Max missed an entire day of roaming the countryside, enjoying life (plus, I'm pretty sure birds taunted him all day long) because he couldn't bring himself to grab on to that tree and inch his way back down to the ground. What are you missing out on because of your fears? What are your unfulfilled hopes and dreams? Even if you're not ready to take a big leap of faith, take a step toward your goals. You might be scared when you first decide to go forward, but try doing it afraid. It's better than the alternative of being stuck where you don't want to be, wondering what it would be like to be free.
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