Boris Ganago is
a well-known Orthodox children’s author, who wrote a lot for little
children, is a lector in Minsk Eparchial School of Catechists, a
laureate in the sphere of spiritual restoration of Belarus,
and the leader of national laureates’ community “Dukhovnoe Slovo” (“Spiritual
Word”).
For the past 20 years, Boris Ganago has dealt with
education of the youth in tradition of purity and good deeds. Children and
adults read his book with great pleasure. His books are written in the form
of entertaining short stories and
conversations and are often read in Sunday schools. Audio versions of the
author’s books are quite popular among people of all ages.
Your little bird
A young little
bird fell from its nest. It was small and helpless and its wings were not yet
ready for flight. All it could do is squeak and open his nib to ask for food
when he was hungry.
Two kids found
the poor little bird and took him home. They built a small nest out of grass
and small branches for the bird. Vova fed the nestling, and Ira brought him out
into the sun from time to time.
Soon the
nestling became stronger, and small feathers appeared on his body. The children
put the bird inside a cage that they found in their attic. They put their
beloved pet inside for protection from their cat, which began to look at the
bird with hungry eyes. He would wait by the door all day waiting for the right
moment. No matter how many times the children would send the cat away, the cat
would not give up and continued to hungrily glance at the little bird.
Summer went by
very quickly. The bird grew bigger and began to fly inside the cage. Soon enough
the cage got too small for the bird. When he was brought outside he would beat
his wings against the bars as if asking to break out to freedom. So, the
children decided to release the rescued animal. Of course they felt sad to
release their favorite new pet but how could they keep an animal cages, if it
was meant to fly freely?
During one
sunny afternoon, the children said their goodbyes to their winged friend; they
brought the cage outside and opened the cage door. The bird jumped out of the
cage and turned to its human friends.
At that moment the
cat appeared. He had been hiding in the bushes, prepared to attack and then jumped
out, but… the bird was already flying up in the air, rising higher and higher...
Saint John of Kronstadt
compared our soul with a bird. The enemy is hunting each should and wants to
catch it. In the beginning the human soul is like a small bird, featherless,
unable to fly, helpless. How can we save our soul, how can we grow spiritually,
in order to not fall down on sharp stones and not to get caught in a nets of
the evil one?
The Lord,
created a safety net and God’s home - the Holy Church, behind which our soul can
grow and strengthen. It is where the soul learns how to fly high up into the
sky. As the soul rises spiritually it begins to feel the type of joy and no
longer fears any of the earthly barriers or traps.
CONVERSATION