AFARMER found an eagle egg.  He decided to raise it along with the chickens in his farm.

A naturalist came by one day, and exclaimed: “That’s an eagle!”

“No,” the farmer replied, “it’s just a chicken.”

“But it’s beautiful!  It has a ten foot wingspan, a magnificent creature!”  But the farmer still insisted it was a chicken.

So the naturalist offered, “I’ll show you how it can fly, and you’ll see that it’s an eagle.”  He held the bird up above his head, and told it, “You’re an eagle!  You were made for the heavens, not the earth!  Fly away and rule the skies!”

But the eagle saw his family, hopped down on the ground, and started pecking at the chicken feed again.

The next day, the naturalist returned, and told the farmer, “I’ll show you what a beautiful bird this is!”  He got up on the roof of the house, again held the bird up above his head, and cried out, “You’re an eagle!  You were made for the heavens, not the earth!  Fly away and rule the skies!”

But the eagle saw the chickens below, and returned to the chicken feed.

On the third day, the naturalist returned once more, convinced that he surely could prove the eagle’s magnificence today.  He took the eagle up to the mountain top.  Holding the bird up high, he pleaded, “You’re an eagle!  You were made for the heavens, not the earth!  Fly away and rule the skies!”

The eagle was scared and disoriented.  But when he was tossed in the air, he found his wings and sailed away, never to return.  He had found his true calling.

God made you an eagle, destined not for earth but for heaven.  Will you let him show you your power and beauty?

Deep gratitude to Father Sylvester for this story.