Journeys 2-26-12 Birds, Migration

The birds are here! The annual migration of the Sandhill Cranes, White and Canadian Geese, and multiple kinds of ducks has begun. We in Doniphan and Rosedale get to witness this pilgrimage every spring. Thousands of people will also migrate from all over the world to see the migration of hundreds of thousands of birds.

As they fly over, you can almost feel the ancient force that pulls these birds from south to north and back again. Deep inside their psyche the message somehow came to them to, “Get moving . . . stay together, and, leave no bird behind!” So they’ve come from places close to the equator, to stop here and wade in our shallow flowing waters and fatten up for a few weeks in our corn fields before moving on to the arctic tundra.

There is a reason why they do what they do when they do it (even if they’re not conscious of it). Each stage of the journey is a stepping stone to the next. One place is for mating. Another place is for laying eggs and hatching their young. Another place is for maturing their young before starting the whole process all over again.

Soon, we’ll be able to witness a hundred thousand birds flying in at dusk and settling down for the night on the Platte River. We’ll get to see mating dances at dawn and hear the social networking of thousands of birds all night long in our fields near the river. We’ll get to be a part of something that’s been going on since way before our time. And way after you and I have completed our full and productive lives, these kinds of birds will still be doing their thing. Our great-grandchildren will take part in this same migration dance that we’re doing now. Except the bird watchers who stop for no apparent reason in front of them will be driving electric cars with no exhaust pipe and energy absorbing technology that our grand-children have yet to invent.

As the great thaw begins to happen this spring, do you get the sense that maybe God is nudging us as a church to, “Get moving . . . stay together and leave no one behind?” Maybe we’re a part of our own ancient force, pulling us toward a purpose that we’re not even conscious of . . . yet. We just know deep in our psyche that its time to get moving.

Grace & Peace,