The Song of the Bird
Posted on Apr 08, 2009
In his collection of stories The Song of the Bird, Fr. Anthony de Mello retells the story of a confused golden eagle.
A man found an eaglet’s egg and put it in the nest of a backyard hen. The eaglet hatched with the brood of chicks and grew up with them.
All his life the eagle did what the backyard chickens did, thinking he was a backyard chicken. He scratched the earth for worms and insects. He clucked and cackled. And he would thrash his wings and fly a few feet into the air.
Years passed and the eagle grew very old. One day he saw a magnificent bird far above him in the cloudless sky. It glided in graceful majesty among the powerful wind currents, with scarcely a beat of its strong golden wings.
The old eagle looked up in awe. “Who’s that?” he asked.
“That’s the eagle, king of the birds,” said his neighbor. “He belongs to the sky. We belong to the earth – we’re chickens.”
So the eagle lived and died a chicken, for that’s what he thought he was.
How true this rings in our world today. So often we are content to live in the shadow of another, trying to fit a mold crafted by others, without stretching to reach our full destiny. Much of the discussion about success is clouded by financial success or popularity instead of living into one’s potential for physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual maturation. As she prepares for the coming year, Ms. Reeder is piloting some guidance lessons we are calling “Heart Smart.” These lessons encourage strong character development and are supported by corresponding lessons in Ms. Baldwin’s spiritual formation classes.
It is our hope that RPDS students will know that characteristics such as perseverance, honesty, communication, reverence and trustworthiness are attributes that foster true success. They are also wonderful antidotes when we are tempted to be successful “chickens” rather than to fear becoming an unsuccessful “eagle.” Dare to soar!
