Friday, November 24, 2017

Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that hovers over its young, the Lord spread his wings and caught
his people, he carried them on his pinions.                 
                                                                                                   Deuteronomy 32:11
           Like Jesus, the prophets, psalmists, and teachers of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) used examples from nature to teach lessons.  We may be less familiar with wildlife than our ancient ancestors were, but we have seen films and photos.  We can picture an eagle hovering over its young, soaring beneath its eaglets to catch them as they learn to fly.  We see adult birds feeding little ones in trees in our backyards.  We watch rabbits make nests for their bunnies.  We sometimes see a possum cross the road with her young hanging onto her.  Nature can teach us many things about care-taking, love, and devotion.  
        No wonder God delighted in making nature as beautiful and diverse as it is: silvery sailfish, cardinals, cats nursing orphaned kittens, and mares nuzzling foals.  And in almost every species – canines (wolves), primates (gibbons), fish (angelfish), rodents (beavers) and even insects (termites) -- there are those who mate for life and care for their young as well as for others.  Lessons to learn, indeed.
©Carol Dean Henn, 2017