If you put a buzzard in a pen six or eight feet square and entirely
open at the top, the bird, in spite of his ability to fly, will be an
absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from
the ground with a run of ten or twelve feet. Without space to run, as is
his habit, he will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for
life in a small jail with no top.
The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkably nimble
creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on
the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no
doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can
throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.
A Bumblebee if dropped into an open tumbler will be there until it
dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top,
but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the
bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys
itself.
In many ways, there are lots of people like the buzzard, the bat, and
the bee. They are struggling about with all their problems and
frustrations, not realizing that the answer is right there "above" them.