Birds and Mountains

I try to read daily as part of my spiritual practice.  I have a handful of books that are good for small, daily portions that are good to sit with and think on.

So, I've done two of my readings for today.  The first dealt with a certain idea:  "God, make me a bird so I can fly away."

It's from Psalms, not Forrest Gump.  FYI.

My second reading dealt with another idea:  "God, make me a mountain."

These seem like opposite ideas.  I like to look for synchronicity in life.  I like to think God/the Universe is trying to tell me something when I come upon these moments.  You might think, Girl, all you're doing is spiritualizing random coincidences.

Here's the truth:  I don't care.  Humans are unique in our ability to create and perceive meaning.  If there's no God or no particular order to the universe, and no one's "talking to" me, then maybe I'm just creating weird stories to go along with my experience.  If that's the truth, that's okay.  If I'm just creating my own meaning, then that is beautiful, too.  Whether or not we believe in God or spirit or any kind of grander, more-or-other-than-scientific realities, finding meaning and metaphors in our experience is still beautiful.

So, whether or not you share this view, I like to think moments of particular synchronicity or contrast mean something.  So what does it mean to be a bird and a mountain?

I am someone who believes in balance.  Few things in the world are inherently good or bad.  Alcohol in excess is a bad idea.  So is water.  Or broccoli.  Anything in excess is bad for us, even much of what we like to think is good for us.  It's not good to be a bird all the time, right?  Trying to escape all of our problems is probably not healthy, but there are certain circumstances that are quite important to escape.  Or, even if our circumstance should be dealt with, it's okay to want to fly away.  Bravery can be fighting that feeling.  Bravery isn't an absence of fear-- that's just insanity.  Bravery is acting despite our fear when we know there is a greater good to be achieved.

Sometimes life needs us to be a mountain, to be strong and unmovable.  Other times, we need to be birds.

So today, am I being a bird or a mountain?  And which should I be aspiring to?