Now it’s time to open your present.
Gifts of tin and glass wear out in a day
and are gone.
But I have a better gift for you.
It is a ring for you to wear.
It sparkles with a special light
and cannot be taken away by anyone.
It cannot be destroyed.
You are the only one in all the world
who can see the ring that I give you today.
As I was the only one who could see it
when it was mine.
Your ring gives you a new power.
Wearing it, you can lift yourself
into the wings of all the birds that fly.
You can see through their golden eyes.
You can touch the wind
that sweeps through their velvet feathers.
You can know the joy of going way up high
above the world and all its cares.
You can stay as long as you want
in the sky,
past the night,
through sunrise.
And when you feel like coming down again,
your questions will have answers
and your worries will have gone.
As anything that cannot be touched
with the hand or seen with the eye,
Your gift grows more powerful
as you use it.
At first you might use it only when
you are outdoors,
watching the bird with whom you fly.
But later on, if you use it well,
it will work with birds
that you cannot see.
And last of all you will find
that you’ll need neither ring nor bird
to fly alone above the quiet of the clouds.
And when that day comes to you,
you must give your gift to someone
who you know will use it well,
And who can learn that the only things
that matter are those made of truth
and joy,
and not of tin and glass.
Every gift from a friend
is a wish for your happiness,
and so it is with this ring.
Fly free and happy
beyond birthdays
and across forever,
And we’ll meet now and then
when we wish,
In the midst of the one celebration
that never can end.
Excerpt from…
“There’s No Such Place As Far Away”
by Richard Bach
