With Wings as Eagles

Yesterday in a stake priesthood meeting someone told a story about a former coach at BYU named Eugene L. Roberts whose life had been changed by a talk he heard from the BYU president George H. Brimhall. I found that the story was told by Sister Sharon Eubank several years ago who quoted the words of Brother Roberts. He related how as a young man he was waiting for some friends one evening in Provo and saw a large crowd gathering at the Provo Tabernacle. He saw young ladies entering, and so he followed and found some friends there. He related, “We were not interested in what came from the pulpit. We knew that the people on [the] rostrum were all old fogies. They didn’t know anything about life and they certainly couldn’t tell us anything, for we knew it all. So we settled down to have a good time. Right in the midst of our disturbance there thundered from [the] pulpit the following [statement]: ‘You can’t tell the character of an individual by the way he does his daily work. Watch him when his work is over. See where he goes. Note the companions he seeks, and the things he does when he may do as he pleases. Then you can tell his true character…. Let us take the eagle, for example. This bird works as hard and as efficiently as any other animal in doing its daily work. It provides for itself and its young by the sweat of its brow, so to speak; but when its daily work is over and the eagle has time of its own to do just as it pleases, note how it spends its recreational moments. It flies to the highest realms of heaven, spreads its wings, and bathes in the upper air, for it loves the pure, clean atmosphere, and the lofty heights. On the other hand, let us consider the hog. This animal grunts and grubs and provides for its young just as well as the eagle; but, when its working hours are over and it has [some] recreational moments, observe where it goes and what it does. The hog will seek out the muddiest hole in the pasture and will roll and soak itself in filth, for this is the thing it loves. People are either hogs or eagles in their leisure time.’” This teaching ultimately changed the life of Brother Roberts. He went on to relate how he realized that he was of the hog-type and he knew he wanted to change that. He began to turn his life around and sought to “lift [himself] out of the hog group and rise to that of the eagle.” He ultimately became a respected coach at BYU and sought to help young people find wholesome recreational opportunities. President Brimhall’s analogy begs the question of each of us—which animal do we want to be like in the way that we spend our time? Are we eagles or hogs?

                The eagle is referenced in numerous places in the scriptures. The most famous is this inspiring passage about how the Lord will help His people: “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31). Here indeed the Lord showed that He wants us to soar like eagles as we wait upon Him and receive strength from Him to rise up. He wants to give us both the energy and the spiritual height of the eagle. In the Old Testament the Lord reminded the children of Israel: “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself” (Exodus 19:4). They were as if they were carried by eagles when they escaped the Egyptians. The psalmist also wrote, “Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 103:5). Eagles are here a symbol of youth, perhaps because of the energy they have to fly high. The Savior also used an analogy with eagles in His teachings in mortality. We read, “And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord, shall they be taken? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is gathered; or, in other words, whithersoever the saints are gathered, thither will the eagles be gathered together; or, thither will the remainder be gathered together” (JST Luke 17:36-37). Here He likened his people to gathering like eagles, and perhaps we can infer that this gathering of Saints should lift us high above the world like eagles who gather at the tops of trees and mountains. In our dispensation He also said this: “And he shall be led in paths where the poisonous serpent cannot lay hold upon his heel, and he shall mount up in the imagination of his thoughts as upon eagles’ wings” (Doctrine and Covenants 124:99). This is clearly an allusion to the passage from Isaiah, and highlights that our very thoughts should take us above the world to contemplate heavenly things. Instead of focusing on the shallow things of the earth like hogs, our thoughts should lift us up to commune with God. I love this invitation from the Savior: “Hearken ye to these words. Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. Treasure these things up in your hearts, and let the solemnities of eternity rest upon your minds” (Doctrine and Covenants 43:34). We should strive to lift ourselves up above the world and be like the eagle with the solemnities of heaven resting upon our minds.