Yesterday at lunchtime I sat outside at work on a bench overlooking the large pond at our office complex. Seven Canada Geese flew in and landed on the water, squawking and flapping their wings and gliding on their webbed feet until they came to rest in the water; then they swam around, climbed out of the water, and waddled around on the land for a bit.
Immediately after, a jet plane on the approach path to the airport flew overhead and let down its wheels. In a few minutes it would land at the airport; it would bounce once or twice on the wheels, which would each send out a puff of white smoke, and then it would taxi to the gate where it would discharge its passengers.
As I watched these airborne vehicles come to earth I thought how the geese's feet and the plane's wheels didn't serve a purpose while they were airborne but functioned fully while on land. Conversely, their wings served no purpose on the ground but enabled them to apply Bernoulli's Principle to keep them aloft in flight.
Even so, we have faculties that serve us well in the earth realm but should give way to those that allow us to function in the realm of the Spirit. We have been given gifts and callings and ministrations that apply in spiritual things and we should develop those abilitiess and employ them when the Spirit calls. The giftings we have in the earth realm may not be appropriate in a spiritual setting; we may have to fold them up, the way a bird tucks its feet up under its body while in flight so they don't impede what God wants to do in the Spirit.
We hear and respond in the realm of the Spirit through spiritual faculties, and we function in the earth realm with natural giftings. All are needed. But once we enter the realm of the Spirit we should release ourselves to God's purpose and employ those giftings that allow us to function in that arena.
May we be like the eagle that can rise up above mountains, catch the thermals, and soar for miles and miles, apprehending the direction and purpose of God for our lives and for His kingdom.
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3 comments:
I love your observation of the world around you in the midst of an "ordinary" day, and the way you have made an extraordinary reflection and application to help us understand God and His ways a more. Keep posting this stuff. It's good and it's from the Lord!
You feel that way even about geese from Canada?
The geese are technically probably not "from" Canada - that's just the name given to that variety of goose. The preponderance of office parks, with their ponsds and large, grassy spaces have inhibited migration, so these foul fowl stay with us the year rond.
The scientific name is Branta Canadensis. This is probably the best known Canadian goose. In the southern inhabited parts of the country, their strong distinctive call is associated with the advent of spring and fall.
They are prized by hunters as one of the choicest game fowl, but their wariness, together with protective regulations, prevent any serious depletion of their numbers.
These birds mate for life, and the family group remains together for several months after hatching the young. A gander protecting the nest makes a very formidable adversary, and his wings are capable of delivering a blow of surprising force, sufficient to rout foxes and similar predators, not to mention humans.
So as to the place of their actual origin, that's up in the air (like the geese, ha, ha!).
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