Friday, June 24, 2011

Signature of God

Recently, a friend gave me some information about geese. I had told her about a previous blog post and the lessons I learned from geese. She relayed an internet site which helped me learn more about these graceful and gracious creatures.

It seems that when geese fly in a V, they are using aerodynamic principles. No surprise there. But when they honk, they’re not just announcing to the world that they’re flying past us, they are encouraging each other to continue – to push past the fatigue and persevere. When one goose tires or is injured, two or three others will land and stay with him until he is well again and able to travel.

The spiritual analogies seem clear. We Christians need to keep encouraging each other to persevere – even when the world makes fun of us, even when we can’t find anything decent to watch on TV, even when the solid values of family and hard work and the inerrancy of scripture are being redefined. Honk – encourage each other to remain true and strong and faithful.

If one of us should fall, that is not a time for self-righteous judgment nor should we leave our brothers and sisters behind. Our role then is to come alongside, to actually be with each other in the middle of the mess, to grieve with each other until we are restored and can journey on.

How I love these lessons from nature that teach us Biblical and common sense principles. The nature of geese is to follow their instincts, to fly but always to endure the flight together. As we do the same, our very lives will bear the signature of God.

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