In his book, Walden; or, Life in the Woods noted transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau wrote:
“Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are?
We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything.
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”
From the day that we first enter this world we begin being shaped and influenced by the society we’re born into. In all phases of our lives we are taught or pressured to conform to accepted norms. Certainly, appropriate guidance and direction is necessary for us to learn basic survival skills. Also, we need to accept some conformity because we are a social species and, hence, have to hone the ability to function in groups and to master the art of civility. But, as the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche wrote, “The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.”
Throughout history, those that would think and act beyond the “norm” have often been ostracized and even persecuted for their non-conformity. From Jesus to Galileo; from Socrates to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., those that dare to change the world are often initially rejected by that world simply because the proposition or thought they espouse is not commonly accepted.
To buttress this point, I’d like to share with you a fable written by Anthony De Mello, SJ that encourages us to resist thinking that we’re on the right road just because it’s a well-beaten path. It is titled, “Flying with Chickens.”
Once, long ago, an Indian warrior found an eagle’s egg on a mountaintop, and he put it in the nest of a barnyard hen. When the time came, the chicks hatched, and so did the little eagle, who had been kept warm in the same brood.
The tiny eagle grew along with the hatchlings. After some time it learned to cluck and cackle like chickens, to scratch the ground, to look for worms. And he would thrash his wings and fly a few feet into the air onto the lower branches of the bushes, just like all the other chickens.
Years passed and the eagle grew very old. One day he saw a magnificent bird above him in the cloudless sky. Up there in the bright blue, this bird glided with graceful majesty among the wind currents, with scarcely a beat of its strong golden wings.
The old eagle was awestruck. It turned to the nearest chicken and asked, “Who’s that?”
The chicken looked up and answered, “Oh, that’s the golden eagle, the king of the birds. 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.
One who walks in another’s tracks leaves no footprints. ~ Proverb
Have an AWE-full weekend!
William J. “Bill” Bacque