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The Kite
Author Unknown
How can we be free with so many rules and commandments to obey? A simple
story will illustrate the value of such guidelines. A little boy and his dad
purchased a beautiful kite. Never having flown a kite before, the little boy
was excited. The day was perfect. They found and open field. They wound the
ball of twine around a stick so the boy could hold on to it, and then they
ran, pulling the kite behind them. Finally the wind caught the kite, and it
started to fly. Then they stood still, holding the kite against the wind, and
letting out more string. The kite responded by ascending higher and higher.
It was exciting, and the little boy was delighted. After a long while they
came to the end of the string, and as they watched the kite, now only a tiny
speck in the sky, the little boy suddenly said, "Let's let it go. I want it
to be free. I want it to go higher and higher, clear up to Heavenly
Father." The dad replied, "It doesn't work that way, son. If we let it go, it
won't go higher. It will fall instead." The little boy didn't believe him
because the tension on the string made it seem like the string was holding the
kite down. To demonstrate what would happen, the dad opened his pocket knife
and handed it to his son. The little boy cut the string. In moments, just
moments, the kite lost control. It darted here and there, down and down, and
soon they had to walk a long way even to find it, a broken heap on the
ground. The little boy couldn't understand. The string had seemed to be
holding the kite down. But it wasn't. The string provided an anchor for the
kite, without which it lost its ability to fly. Like the little boy, some of
us mistakenly assume that commandments, rules, and values restrict us -- that
if we were only free of them, we would be liberated. The truth is, the
guidelines provide the discipline that will ultimately lift and guide us to
our Heavenly Father. Without the commandments, we would be left to drift
aimlessly and eventually crash in a broken heap. As we develop personal,
private, religious behavior in the form of prayer, scripture study, service,
church attendance, and obedience, we strengthen ourselves against sin and
accumulate the power we need to be victorious in our war against Satan.
"Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for
yourselves--to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal
life." (2 Nephi 10:23)
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