In this quote, I relate myself to those turkeys at the times in my life, when I become comfortable in a state of mediocrity. Mediocre in this sense meaning: of only ordinary or moderate quality; neither good nor bad; barely adequate. (dictionary.com)
I've been taught, since youth, that as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, that we were never meant to let ourselves settle to be anything less than our very best. In fact, we are expected to reach beyond what the world expects of us, and become a better people.
"Men cannot really long rest content with mediocrity once they see excellence is within their reach."
-Thomas S. Monson
In a New Era article, by Sterling W. Sill in 1976, this assistant to the Council of the Twelve went as far as to compare mediocrity to a trap. A means of the devil for the purpose to capture, defeat, confound, or ensnare. The following is the concluding paragraph from that message.
"Each of us is a child of God, formed in God’s image and endowed with his attributes, heir to his kingdom, with an understanding of our own eternal potentialities. There is everything in knowing our origin and destiny and in constantly reaffirming them in our lives. We are the offspring of divinity. We have inherited the creator’s wisdom and power. We should cling to our inheritance. We should think of ourselves as children of omnipotence. We should never let the thought escape us, even for a moment. We should keep our feet out of the traps, and we should never let evil destroy this inspiring picture of ourselves."
When we settle into that false sense of security of mediocrity, it may seem as if you are at a neutral stand. You may think you are neither moving more towards God, or towards Satan, but in reality you are moving towards something worse. You become indifferent, and when you are indifferent, nothing can help you except yourself. You literally become your worst enemy.
I attended a class by Sister Wilcken in August of 2008, which was titled, The Enemy Within. This class really inspired me to snap out of my state of mediocrity and work, really work towards the better future. I remember a quote from Sister Holland that she shared with us,
"Our worst enemy is ourselves. If we are constantly fighting internal fears, then we won't have energy for the ones that come from the outside."
When I first heard that quote about the turkeys who learned to fly and then walked home, I thought it was pretty funny, but the more I thought about it, the more serious I realized it was. I realized that I'm often a turkey. I have been given this gospel ever since I can first remember, a doctrine that is meant to help me find that eternal potential and reach a divine and holy state. And what a gift it is! Going back to Sister Wilcken's words,
"If you reject a gift, you reject the giver of the gift. Would you reject your God? For he has given you everything."
I suppose the purpose of my sharing this with you, is to encourage you to remember your God- and not be a turkey.
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