Jonathan

Recently I had an occasion to remember him.Do you know his story?Well, in case you don't,in a nutshell it is something like this-

Jonathan Livingston was practicing.He spent days alone,making hundreds of low-level glides,experimenting.He wanted to know what he can do in the air and what he can't,that's all.He just wanted to know.

"Why Jonathan,why is it so hard to be like the rest of the folk,Jon?Don't you forget
that the the reason you fly is to eat."

In the night he climbed two thousand feet above the black sea.He didn't have a thought of failure or death.He brought his fore wings tightly close into his body,left only the narrow swept daggers of his wing tips extended into the wind,and fell into a vertical dive,a grey cannon ball under the moon.A seagull at a hundred and fourteen miles per hour! It was a breakthrough , the greatest single moment in the history of the folk.

"Jonathan, seagulls never fly in the dark.
We declare you an outcast".
He became an outcast.
He had to leave the folk.

There were two of them when they came ,two who glowed as pure starlight,but gentle and friendly in the high night air.

"Jonathan",the words were strong and calm.
"We have come to take you higher,to take you to another home"
"I am ready",he said.
He gave a last look across the sky,across the magnificent silver sand where he had learned so much,and he promised,
"I would come back one day to help my flock learn".
Jonathan Livingston rose with the other two to disappear into a perfect dark sky,to go beyond,to his new home to learn.
When they reached a place which was beautiful beyond imagination,he asked,"Is this Heaven?"
"No,Jonathan,there is no such place as Heaven.Heaven is not a place,it is not a time.Heaven is being perfect.And it isn't flying a thousand miles per hour,or a million,or flying at the speed of light.Because any number is a limit and perfection has no limit."
"Now, tell Jonathan,are you ready for learning the most difficult,the most powerful,the most fun of all?Are you ready to fly up and know the meaning of Kindness and of Love?
"Yes"
In a moment they were air-borne,practicing.He learnt at a tremendous rate though it was difficult.
When sun rose he saw,there were thousands of them,standing,looking curiously.
"Jonathan,remember what you said a long time ago about loving the folk enough to return to it and help it learn?"
" Sure".
"We don't understand how you manage to love a mob that made you an outcast."
"Oh,you don't love hatred and evil, of course.You have to practise and see the real,
the good in every one of them and to help to see it in themselves.It is fun,when you
get the knack of it."
They all looked at him quizzically.Suddenly he saw them all as they really were and he more than liked, he loved what he saw.

Their race to learn began.

My mother was with me for the last two months.Her last stay for this long a period was when I delivered my daughter,28 years back.
She is 82,fragile and vulnerable to infections.She has some idea about her condition but still has gone back to her own domain,to stay alone,independently,without troubling anyone 'unnecessarily' and without being troubled also.We respect her decision ,mostly 'cos we are not left with a choice.
But...while she was leaving I read something unfamiliar in her whole being.A shadow of fear,a craving for reassurance,and a plea... for something.That was totally strange for me and anyone who knows her.I gave her my word,'there is nothing to worry at least for the next 3 years;you are as healthy as you were before your illness'.She seemed to trust me and I could feel her relaxing.Her faith in my words chocked me, because I was cheating her.The truth is I don't know the answer for her unasked question,nobody knows.They say,you have to think positively...speak positively...I wonder,sometimes does it amount to cheating?