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Chapter 15: Johnathan Livingston Seagull45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgfw0OORxbM
Jonathan Livingston Seagull was written in 1970. The little book became a New York Times bestseller. As a young gull, Johnathan did what every other gull did. All day, every day, he would fight other gulls to get the fish scraps thrown off the boats. As he grew older, he’d had enough, there must be a better way to live than this. He started practicing flying. Every day, as he practiced more and more, he became quite fast. The other gulls thought he was very strange, and he became an outcast. This didn't matter to Johnathan, at all. He practiced wing trim, spin dives, tail dives and advanced aerodynamics for a bird. He broke the sound barrier and because of his great speed he could dive very deep and capture the best fish. Furthermore, he could also fly very high for tasty insects. He lived to a ripe old age and one day a baby gull flew into his path. He swerved and flew into a cliff at a very high speed, he died. Next, the Great Gull was standing next to him and said, “Well Johnathan, your method of leaving time was a little abrupt, let's continue your training.” He reached the point of thinking of being somewhere and instantly he was there.
This is my take on this beautiful story. All of his life, Johnathan strove to achieve perfection in flight. Because of his dedication, he ate better and lived better than all the other gulls. I feel this is analogous to a Christian’s life. I have and continue to live my life by the standards Jesus set. He lived a perfect life. His only enemies were the religious hierarchy. He was caring, kind, generous, truthful, helpful, forgiving, honest and loving. As we strive to achieve perfection in these traits, we, like Johnathan, live better. If everyone alive today, all eight billion of us, would simply live by, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”; here's what would happen. We would have no more wars, prisons, poverty, crime, or homelessness. We would have no need for locks or passwords. Doing just that. Think about it, it's true.
45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjEcPGhTgmv
