They Flew

30/10/2011
Fr. Jose Kaimlett

The eagle gently coaxed her offspring
toward the edge of the nest. Her heart quivered
with conflicting emotions as she felt their resistance
to her persistent nudging.

“Why does the thrill of soaring have to begin
with the fear of falling?” she thought. This ageless
question was still unanswered for her.

As in the tradition of the species, her nest was
located high upon the shelf of a sheer rock face.
Below there was nothing but air to support
the wings of each child.”Is it possible that this time it will
not work?” she thought. Despite her fears
the eagle knew it was time. Her parental
mission was all but complete.

There remained one final task … the push.
The eagle drew courage from an innate wisdom.
Until her children discovered their wings, there was
no purpose for their lives.

Until they learned how to soar, they would fail
to understand the privilege it was to have been born an
eagle. The push was the greatest gift she had to
offer. It was her supreme act of love.

And so, one by one, she pushed them and …
THEY FLEW.

Each of us sometimes need a “push” to discover our wings, to fulfill our purpose in life and to reach our ultimate potential. A couple of weeks ago I was leisurely sitting on the veranda when I noticed a strange battle going on. The mother hen, with some use of force, had succeeded in chasing away 8 of her 9 chicks from her; but the last one insisted on clinging to her. Ultimately she had to use all her force and fight (at least seemingly) ferociously to chase him away. Though the chick might have considered her attitude very cruel, the mother hen had the innate knowledge that her chicks have to be on their own to realize their ultimate potential. If she were to be mild and condescending under the pretext of motherly love, she would be doing great injustice to her chicks. Humans sometimes do not realize it that easily or clearly.

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