THE KITE that wanted
and finally the ties which held him broke, and he was left to seek his freedom. But, boys and girls, he was just as helpless as the kite. The winds of chance blew him here and there and everywhere; he could find no resting place; and he found to his dismay that he couldn’t go higher. You see, the kite could go higher only as long as it was held by the cord in the strong hand of the one who had sent it aloft. Just so long as the string held, the kite could rise. The breezes which blew against it only made it rise faster and higher into the blue of the sky; but the moment the string broke, the same wind that kept it aloft swept it to the ground. So the young man found himself drift ing, when the cord was loosed, instead of rising, he sank. He wavered, and wobbled, and began to go down, down, down, just as the kite did, and soon he, too, found himself entangled in unfriend ly wires. His whiteness was soiled, his strength was broken, and at the last, he found himself facing a long term of im prisonment—and all because, when he was a boy, he wanted to be freed from the kindly, protecting, restraining influ ences of home and mother, of church and God. There is a verse in the Bible which says: “ Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.” Boys and girls, that young man in prison had forgotten the Lord’s command to remember his Creator; he had broken the ties which held him; so the evil days came upon him, the years drew nigh, in which he would have to say, “ I have no pleasure in them.” What happened to the kite that wanted its freedom will happen to every kite which breaks loose from the cord that holds it steady. What happened to the boy who broke the ties which bound him will happen to every boy and girl who breaks away from the ties which keep them steady. The kite lost its freedom, for it was hopelessly entangled in the wires; the young man lost his freedom, for he was doomed to spend the best years of his life behind prison bars. Boys and girls, it is only the freedom which comes through obedience which is worth while! Remember the fate of the kite that wanted to be free, and of the boy who wanted to cast off all restraints —and “remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth” !
to be FREE
By LOU IS T. TALBOT
S PRINGTIME is kite-time for boys. Every boy knows what it is to feel the call of the outdoors in the spring of the year—and when the fresh, strong breezes come to sweep away the winter clouds, the sky seems to get a new blueness, the sun shines more brightly than ever before, and every vacant lot has its share of boys, playing ball and flying kites. It is about a kite that wanted to be free that I am going to tell you. Some times kites, like boys and girls, seem to feel a craving for freedom. On just such a spring day as I have been talking about, I found myself walk ing down the street in a city where I was pastor of a church. As I strolled along, enjoying the sunshine and fresh air, I passed a corner where a group of boys was playing. I recognized them as being members of my Sunday school. They were flying kites. High against the blue of the sky, the kites stood out, float ing on the breezes which kept them aloft, guided by strong cords, held in eager little hands. One of the boys spied me as I stood watching them, and called out, “ Oh, Mr. Talbot, do come over here and feel how these kites pull!” I went over to where the boys were and took the cord out of the hand of the one who had called me. I could feel thè strong pull of the kite as I held the cord. It leaped and tugged like a live thing, and do you know, boys and girls, while I was holding that string, the kite seemed to be talking to me. What do you suppose it was saying? Why, it seemed to be begging for liberty—and as each fresh gust of wind blew it from side to side, and higher and higher, it seemed to be saying: ‘K3h, Mr. Talbot, why don’t you let go of the string? You think I am high up in the sky, but if you would only let me loose, and give me freedom, I’d show you how high I could go!” So the kite talked to me. And as it pulled and tugged and talked to me of freedom and liberty; something hap pened. The cord broke! The boys gasped as they saw the broken cord fluttering in the breeze—then we all fastened our eyes on the kite. It wavered uncertainly for a moment, swept from side to side, then suddenly turned topsy-turvy, its tail streaming out behind it, and came float ing down, down, down—helpless to right itself. At last it was swept by the strong wind up against a telegraph wire, and there the poor kite hung by its tail—the M A Y . 1 9 4 9
once white and spotless linen, which had shone so in the sunshine—all discolored and bedraggled and torn to shreds, the frame broken and disfigured. I have thought of that kite many times since, as I have come in contact with boys and girls who have talked of “free dom.” How many boys there are who feel that, if they could only get away from their mothers’ “ apron strings,” out into the big, wide world, they could be some thing! How many of them yearn for the liberty which they think lies beyond and far away from their homes! They are like the kites, tugging at the cords which hold them. I was like that when I was a boy. When they caught me smoking my first cigarette, I thought resentfully, “ Oh, if I could only get away where I could be free!” I wanted to break the cord which bound me to Sunday school, to church, to mother and home. But, boys and girls, there is a greater freedom which we can all have. It is the freedom which comes from doing right, from obeying the kindly laws which keep us safe, the freedom which comes from becoming acquainted with the best Friend a boy or girl can have, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. If you let Him into your life, and let Him hold the cords, you will have real freedom, and can rise to undreamed-of heights. Once I went to visit a big state peni tentiary. There I met a young man who had been sentenced to serve twenty years’ imprisonment for a crime. I talked to that young man, and he told me his story. He had been brought up in a Christian home, but like the kite, he craved freedom. He resented the demands which were made upon him—he didn’t want to go to Sunday school and church; he didn’t want to know the Lord Jesus. He felt that all those things were just strings that would keep him tied down, and keep him from realizing his real freedom. So he broke away, just as the kite I told you about. He tugged and pulled,
JUNIOR KING5 BUSINESS
Martha S. Hooker
Page Fifteen
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