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“The famous story comes vividly to mind: A mother hen, with immense care, hatches a clutch of eggs, unaware that one of them belongs to an eagle. Did the eagle ascend a sheer mountain cliff only to descend and lay her egg at the foot of the slope? Or was it simply misplaced by chance? While the story seems absurd, the moral remains profound: the horizon of one’s destiny is defined not by immediate circumstances, but by what lies within. Until we recognise this innate potential, our true horizons will remain uncharted. But does the story truly end with this lesson? Let us wait and see...”
One world, one life to live,
Live it not in any way,
But, in the way I ought to become.
‘On a mountain cliff, on eagle’s wings’
The tender petal eyelids opened the leafy eyes. Unfathered wings hung gently, and bony legs scrambled for warmth against a fragile, skinny body as a tiny head turned against the uneven, rocky cliff.
“I will be the shade to shelter you with warmth, let the sun burn through me, and the rain and snow bathe me, no matter how fiercely the storm winds blow,” the mother eagle whispered.
With a sweet smile and radiant joy, she awaited his return. This comforting sight lifted the father’s spirit after a long, exhausting search. The morning had seemed vibrant, filled with gentle lullabies in an ‘aerie’ woven from their wings of love, yet the gloomy shadows shrouded their faces once again. “How did this happen? Who has veiled the light in our vigilant eyes?” he asked.
“It is all a mystery,” she whispered. “Mystery? What is a mystery?” he said steadily, with a keen gaze and added, “It is in our nature to create mysteries, not to be bound by life’s miseries. The true mystery lies within us, and eagles are born for it.”
“His feathers seem to be longer and the beak sharper than all the others,” said the mother hen ‘Prety’ while returning home when Boni, the master, hurriedly packed them into the roost.
“A troubled mind makes a restless pillow.” Enfolding all her little ones under her wings, she kept awake the whole night searching for the strangeness in her family.
“Let me teach them to peck at something different today,” she thought, planning her morning. She led her chicks towards the soft earth to hunt for wriggling worms, a daunting challenge for their very first lesson. But as the brood hesitated, she froze, breathless, whereas her stranger chick was boldly wrestling with the earthworms while the rest watched this magical display across the green field. Its eyes sparkled, its talons spread wide, and its steady beak snatched clusters of worms in a single strike.
After a hectic day, Prety fell into a deep sleep, haunted by a dark dream of losing her stranger-chick from beneath her wings. “Oh no, he is mine... mine!” Prety gasped, walking heavily and searching the roost. Her nightmare had come true: the stranger chick was gone from the brood. ‘Yet a mother’s love knows no bounds, no bottom, and no end. The fate of the stranger chick stands still’.
“He is 12 weeks old today, our buddy has learned to leap quickly. Let his great adventure begin,” the mother said. As one carried the young eagle on its back for a high dive, the other flew alongside, ready to catch him for the next flight. They soared in triumph, leaping up and down with twists and turns through the open sky. Reaching a rocky outcrop, they snatched up a small mammal for their meal.
Groups of busy eagles gathered at their feeding grounds, where the new family lunged in. Suddenly, Buddy spotted a lonely young eagle just his age and called out, offering to share his meal. “Oh... no, I haven’t learned to do all that,” replied the lonely eagle, letting out a strange, soft cluck. With hesitation, the lonely eagle began pecking at the food in the only way it had been taught for weeks. ‘Truly, a leopard cannot change its spots’.
The long-held mystery remained unrevealed, yet the family had welcomed another into their fold. Then came a fateful day: Lonely returned to the cliff with wild, burning eyes, crying out in fury, “My master, Boni, is here! He’s tracking me down to capture!” He pointed towards the hunter, who rarely dared to climb so high up the crag. Thus, the mystery unveiled itself, at last.
Life is an endless journey searching for true identity that leads to where one belongs.
Sr M Sujanthini
Sacred Heart School
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