Hold and be held!

Or:
What you always wanted to know about bird feathers….

How about a little excursion into bird feather science? Really? Yes, for me it gave unexpected insights! Let me take you there!

A bird feather (contour feather) has a shaft in the middle with branches on both sides. These branches again have small branches with tiny hooks on the end. They always lie on top of each other for cross-attachment. The hook holds onto the branch next to it and the branch is created in such a way that it can be held well by these hooks. To put it simply, a bird feather works much like a Velcro fastener.

All these branches form a single, dense surface, which even becomes impermeable to air because it is so well interlocked! The feather does not break under too much stress, but disconnects and can be hooked again during grooming. It is also water and stain resistant, protective and lightweight. This ingenious design allows the bird to fly. On top of that, a feather is also very beautiful!

Why am I explaining this? In God’s creation so many things work in the physical like in the spiritual. So I see the feather as an ingenious picture, how we should be interlocked with the people around us! Through this holding and being held there is a network between us which is stable and offers protection.

If each person holds and supports some people and at the same time has people who hold and support them, then we are all capable of soaring and are protected! If the connection should tear somewhere with severe stress, one must take a break, groom it and put it back in order, so that it holds and connects again.

God created us as relational beings. We need community. We need people to hold us in everyday life. We are also capable of holding and supporting people ourselves.

Do you have people who go through life with you and give you support? Who hold you when you stumble, have difficulties or have made mistakes? Do you have people who are there when you need them? Do you dare to ask someone for help, do you let them hold you? Life is no longer feather light if you only hold others and do not let yourself be held and helped. We need both!

Are you someone who supports and helps others? Who also helps people who can’t give much back? People who otherwise fall through the cracks? God bless you with the strength to do so!

Let us cultivate both!

Apart from people, there is the one to whom we should and may always hold on. God holds you faithfully and lovingly, he is holding on to you if you let yourself be held! He also helps you in your relationships, he is in you and gives you the peace for it. Relationship networks are sometimes quite difficult, but God is with you!

I have been asking myself if I have people who hold me and people whom I hold. Are my relationships alright? Is the connection holding tight, is it hooked well? Has it come loose somewhere and I need to fix it? Is it cushioning shocks and dirt? Is the whole construction light or do adjustments need to be made? Does the connection protect me, does it protect others?

I like the image of the feather because it holds together well, works so ingeniously, and is also beautiful. It shows that only good relationships make us stable. God created each and every one of us to be an important part of the whole. Hold and be held!