In most enlightened countries throughout the world, bird sanctuaries have been established by the national governments, by smaller governing bodies, or by individuals. The purpose is to provide a place of refuge where birds may live without fear of the guns of the hunters, and the traps, snares, and nets of the fowlers.
The term "sanctuary" is often thought of as a place of refuge for humanity, where an individual can enjoy safety, where he is out of reach of his pursuers. The author of the ninety-first Psalm describes "the secret place of the most High" as the place of spiritual refuge. In developing his theme the Psalmist employs the symbol of a bird taking refuge from the fowler to typify mankind's finding safety in the sanctuary of Spirit, God. The third and fourth verses read: "Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust."
Mary Baker Eddy writes in "The First. Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 244), "The 'secret place,' whereof David sang, is unquestionably man's spiritual state in God's own image and likeness, even the inner sanctuary of divine Science, in which mortals do not enter without a struggle or sharp experience, and in which they put off the human for the divine."
