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Writer's pictureCoco

Coco Calling: No. 62 - The Wonder of Flight


The random thoughts of a Christian parrot


As a very zippy flyer myself, I love watching those grainy old film clips of humans attempting to “fly” for the first time. Launching themselves off cliffs and hill tops with flimsy “wings” strapped to their arms, or sitting in lethal-looking contraptions made of balsa wood and string. They usually climb into the air for a few seconds before crashing to the ground in a pile of splinters and sawdust. I tell you, it’s the best comedy show that a parrot could ever hope to see! I nearly fall off my perch laughing!


But of course, humans have persevered with flight, and now have flying machines which can take them all over the world on impromptu migrations.


The majority of my feathered friends can fly with extraordinary ease. We don’t need purpose-built machines. We can migrate with pinpoint accuracy without the need for sat-nav. or a compass. Some of us (hummingbirds) can fly backwards as well as forwards. Others (Bar-headed Geese) can even fly over the summit of Mount Everest without the need for extra oxygen. How do we do it?


Humans are very clever. They can copy us. They can emulate us. They can even surpass us with their latest technology, (not that parrots particularly want to fly to the moon, or go faster than the speed of sound). But all of my feathered friends and I remain the real deal. We don’t need machines or specialist equipment. Because we are all miracles of Creation, yet we are so frequently overlooked, ignored or forgotten by humans who like to believe that they are superior to everything else.


The first human aviators had a sense of wonder. They wanted to be like the birds, the bats and the bees of this world. And ultimately, they succeeded. But how much more can humans learn from the Nature around them if they only stop to see it, marvel at it, value it and be inspired by it?



Humans need to view the Natural world with a child’s sense of wonder. Just like those first aviators. Because if humans destroy it all for short-term profit, they will be destroying far more than they can ever realise. Nature is God’s garden; -God’s creation. And all of us that form a part of it are living miracles and totally irreplaceable……..


“In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” (Job 12:10)



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