The Lark Bargain

Once upon a time there was a skylark who sang so sweetly that people would stop in their tracks just to listen. One day a man approached the bird with an unusual proposal: “I’ll give you a fat worm if you give me one of your feathers.

”The skylark thought, “I have hundreds of feathers. Surely one won’t matter.” He plucked a feather, enjoyed the worm, and flew away.

The next day the man returned with the same offer. The skylark hesitated just for a moment but again reasoned, “One more feather won’t make a difference.” And so, it went. Day after day, worm after worm, feather after feather.

For a while the skylark seemed fine. He still had plenty of feathers, still could sing, still could fly. But slowly, almost without noticing, his wings grew bare and ragged. One morning, when a hawk appeared in the sky, the skylark tried to take off, but he couldn’t. He had traded away the very feathers that gave him freedom.

That story may sound kind of quaint, but it carries a sharp edge of truth. Life is full of bargains. Most of them don’t come as one dramatic choice but as a series of small trades. “Just this once.” “It won’t really matter.” “I can always bounce back.” But compromises add up. And one day, like the skylark, a person discovers that what they gave away piece by piece was their ability to soar.

Jesus asked a haunting question in Matthew 16:26: “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” It’s the skylark’s bargain in different words. What use is a fat worm if you’ve lost your wings? What use is a pocketful of gains if you’ve traded away your soul?

The skylark reminds us that the small bargains matter. Guard your feathers. Guard your integrity, your faith, your hope. Don’t let them be plucked away one by one by easy trades.

This week, before you make a decision, ask yourself: “Am I trading the skies/Heaven for a worm?” And choose instead to keep your wings strong, your heart light, and your eyes on the skies.

(adapted after The Skylark’s Bargain by G.H.Carnley)