The Flakefoot Falcon
Flakefoot Falcons get their name from a peculiar hereditary characteristic - they are born with a form of innate chronic psoriasis. The scales on their...
The previous three chapters taught us how to make peace with God and with our fellow man. This chapter presents us with a bigger challenge – making peace with ourselves.
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Mount Patience, known also as Old Isaac's Mountain, is a haven for flora and fauna. Ornithologists and amateur bird-watchers love coming to this part of the mountain, the high cliffs overlooking Peace River Canyon. Here is the home of a unique and almost extinct bird of prey, the Flakefoot Falcon.
Flakefoot Falcons get their name from a peculiar hereditary characteristic – they are born with a form of innate chronic psoriasis. The scales on their legs and feet flake their entire lives.
Falcons are the epitome of aviary splendor. They have proud faces, wings of aerodynamic perfection, and telescopic eyes with macro attachments that can hone in on a field mouse from a mile away. Their exquisite gold feathers literally sparkle in the sunlight. Yet, Flakefoot feels very self-conscious and insecure whenever it looks at its own scaly feet; some Falcons even lose their will to live…
As opposed to other species, the male Flakefoot is a skilled hunter and sole provider, while the female devotes most of her time to the nest and to raising her youngsters. Flakefoot couples are fiercely loyal to one another, and religiously monogamous. If a Flakefoot dies, the remaining mate won't live more than a week or two.
If you haven't seen a Flakefoot Falcon in flight, you can't imagine the meaning of poise, grace, and natural majesty.
On the ground, a Flakefoot feels miserable. The Falcon's emotions in flight though, switch from depression to exhilaration. Its inferior self-conscious image on the tarmac gives way to the royal bearing of an undisputed king up in the sky. In the clear blue, it forgets about its ugly, flaking feet; they're tucked away like landing gear.
The higher the bird flies, the stronger it feels.
Like all birds and animals, the Flakefoot Falcon is especially close to his Creator. At the apex of its flight, it chants a cry of victory, which is really a song of praise to God. Old Isaac says that the Falcon repeatedly quotes a passage from Tehillim (Book of Psalms 19:2), "The sky tells of the God's glory, and the horizon praises His handiwork."
Like a magnificent monarch surveying his domain, the bird banks along the wind current and completes an effortless three-mile circle of the canyon with ease, barely flapping his wings. The exuberance of high-altitude flight, the wind in its feathers, the royal-blue sky, and the bird's eye view of his kingdom give it a fresh new will to live.
Suddenly, the male Flakefoot remembers the needs of his family. Thousands of feet above the canyon floor, he hovers like a satellite, scanning the ground below. There, he's spotted something! What a scary nosedive!
The Falcon approaches ground level with remarkable speed, and at the very last instant, levels off in flight while nabbing a helpless little rodent in his beak. He now soars upward, and within seconds, arrives home to the niche in the cliff with lunch for the family.
Spellbinding, isn't it? What a wonderful gift from Heaven – the privilege of observing a Flakefoot Falcon.
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By putting our powers of spiritual awareness to work, let's examine the many lessons we can learn from a Flakefoot Falcon.
Being at Peace with Yourself: The Ten Lessons of the Flakefoot Falcon
Lesson Number One: Look for your good points; try to find your particularly special attributes, skills, or talents, and cultivate them to the best of your ability.
The Almighty creates each and every being with a unique trait of its own. You are no exception. The particular attribute, skill, or talent that God instills in you enables you to accomplish your own very special mission on earth. If you're unhappy with your lot in life, chances are that you haven't yet tapped your own rich resources, and therefore are not yet fulfilling your own distinctive mission. If you have the talent to develop a cure for cancer, you won't be happy as a cashier in a drugstore. If the Almighty gave you a brilliant mind, you're wasting your potential wallowing in front of a television screen.
Likewise, whenever a grounded Flakefoot Falcon looks at his scaly feet, he falls into a deep depressive state and loses all will to live. He thinks his life is worthless, and he's embarrassed for anyone to see him. Yet, the instant he spreads his dazzling golden wings and begins to fly – his own special talent, for no other bird can emulate the graceful and exquisite flight of a Flakefoot – his entire outlook on life changes for the better. On the ground, a Flakefoot is none other than a feathered sack of misery. In the air, he's the majestic avian king of the sky.
You and I are no different than a Flakefoot Falcon. When we identify and cultivate our own unique abilities, we not only survive, we unlock the doors to inner peace and success.
Can you imagine if Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder, both blind from birth, had dreamed of being fighter pilots? Their lives would have been a nightmare of frustration. Instead, they each developed their superb musical talents to bring joy to millions of people.
Likewise, if Franklin Delano Roosevelt had aspired to be an Olympic sprinter, his life would have been a complete waste. FDR's crippled legs didn't prevent him from being the only American president in history that served three terms in office. Roosevelt circumvented his physical weaknesses to develop his strength of character and qualities of leadership, to successfully lead his nation through the trying years of World War II.
Wait and see how your life improves once you start cultivating your own special abilities. You'll be a lot happier with yourself, and at peace with the world around you. Others will like you much more as well. Your studies, your job, and your family life will soar upward, just like a Flakefoot Falcon spreading its wings in the wind.
Until you've found that one special quality or talent of yours that sets you above and apart from everyone else, you haven't yet started to live a truly satisfying life.
The Creator outfits every human with an outstanding quality in a raw state waiting to be developed, like a muddy unpolished diamond deep inside a South African diamond mine. Yet, unlike the South African mine, you don't have to travel to the far corners of the world to discover yourself. The more you gain spiritual awareness, the more you'll become aware of yourself and of your potential. Spiritual awareness helps you discover those unique abilities buried deep inside of you.
During one of my lectures, a person once asked me if the fires of purgatory are for real. I answered with the following allegorical dramatization:
The Heavenly Limelight
Imagine that your life in this world terminates, and you're carried up to a Heavenly lecture hall. You are seated alone on center stage in the limelight, while thousands of eyes are watching you. Suddenly, the lights are switched off, and a projector illuminates a gigantic video screen behind you. Together with the thousands of observers, you turn around and see a movie about…you!
You recognize your parents, your house, your school, and your hometown. All of a sudden, the pictures become unfamiliar…
A narrator with a warm, rich, loving voice that makes your skin tingle begins to explain the scenes on the screen. You see yourself receiving a Presidential medal of honor for discovering a cure for cancer. Maybe you see yourself as the first special education teacher in the world to teach trigonometry to children with Down's syndrome. Or maybe you're leading your national gymnastics team to an Olympic gold medal. A different image might portray you as a benefactor signing a check to build an old-age home for penniless senior citizens.
The film is over. A bright spotlight shines on you. The voice returns, reverberating through loudspeakers in every corner of the lecture hall, and says, "That, my son or daughter, is what you were destined to do with your life. Instead, you spent your time in idleness. You squandered your money on foolish short-term thrills. You wasted your razor-sharp mind sitting in front of a television and gossiping on the telephone. You never took stock in yourself. You neither discovered your outstanding qualities nor did you develop them…"
Thousands of eyes focus on you. You're devastated by the realization that you could have moved the universe. Instead, you wasted your potential on computer games, aimless surfing on the Web, and soap operas. You misused your valuable energy. Rather than assuming your role as the King's prodigy, you acted like a simpleton. You're so embarrassed that you feel like a blowtorch is searing your face.
"That's the fire of purgatory," I answered.
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Once you identify your good points, and begin to enhance them, you'll like yourself much more. I'll share a secret with you: The first thing I do in personal counseling is to try and make a quick and accurate identification of a client's strong points. So, get to work, dear friend; that diamond inside of you is waiting to be discovered.
To be continued . . .
(The Trail to Tranquility is available in the Breslev Store.)
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