As a child I went through a stage of wanting to keep a bird as a pet. I was told, however, that it is both inhumane and inconvenient to keep a bird in a cage. Birds are born to fly free, andcages are meant for naughty children who disobey their parents. In Asian cultures, a proverb says love is like a bird in a cage. If you love something, you set it free. If it comes back to you, it is yours forever. If it doesn’t, it was never yours to begin with. In the Christian tradition, the bird is replaced with a sheep. The sheep is free to wander off — which it does — and is lost in the wilderness. The shepherd knows his sheep, and so he leaves his flock to rescue the one who is lost.And when he finds it, he joyfully carries it home where his friends and neighborsrejoicebecause the lost sheep is found.If something you love runs away, you go after it no matter the cost.