Potential

The Parable of the Eagle

A certain farmer was going through the forest when he ran across a small eagle which had fallen from its nest. He took the eagle home and placed it among a flock of chickens. In time it grew to full maturity.

One day, a naturalist came to see the farmer and saw the eagle among the chickens. “That bird is an eagle not a chicken,” he said.

“Yes,” said the farmer, “but I have trained it to be a chicken. For all intents and purposes, it is a chicken. Even though it has a wing spread of ten feet tip-to-tip, it will never fly.”

“No,” said the naturalist. “It is an eagle still; it has the soul of an eagle and its destiny is to soar in the heavens. Let me teach it to fly.”

“Please go ahead,” said the farmer.

The naturalist took the eagle to the top of the barn. “You are an eagle,” he said. “Your destiny is the heavens. Stretch forth your wings and fly.” The eagle turned this way and that. Then, looking down, saw the chickens eating their food and jumped down among them.

The naturalist was discouraged, but the farmer said to him, “You are a well-educated man. Certainly you must have discovered that most people behave the way the people around them behave. They accept their goals and their lifestyles. It is the same with this eagle. He has been reared with the chickens and has taken on their ways of behaving. That is why I say he will never fly.” The naturalist was sad, but he said to the owner, “Please let me try once more.”

The next morning, he rose early and took the eagle away from the chickens, away from the farm, away from the city. He took it to the foot of a mountain. Holding the eagle in his arms, he climbed the mountain. As he reached the top, the sun was just rising, bathing the tip of the mountain with gold, and every crag was glistening with the light. The naturalist felt the joy of the morning.

As he held the eagle, he let it look around. Then, it trembled as if new life were coming to it, but it did not fly. The naturalist took the eagle and faced it into the sun (let us now spell it SON and not SUN). He said to the eagle, “You are an eagle. Your destiny is in the heavens. Now, FLY!” And, with a mighty screech, he spread his wings, and the eagle flew!

As missionaries, we need to remember the progression we want to achieve with ourselves and those we teach. We have the potential to be an eagle if we have faith and look toward Jesus Christ, the Son of Our Heavenly Father, as our supreme exemplar. The Savior is the sure foundation upon which to build our lives, and He shows us the way to perfection.