Faithful Obedience
It’s true what I’ve read about bird-watching. If one goes outside and sits still for about twenty minutes, the birds will resume all of their usual activities around you. You have entered their environment, and they perceive that you are not an immediate threat to them.
On my last full day of camp, I went to the waterfront after supper, to take in the quiet of Lake Pleasant. As I sat quietly on a picnic table, I noticed a family of swans about a hundred yards out on the lake: Momma, Papa, and two juveniles. I wondered if they would swim closer to shore, so I could get a better look. To my surprise, they did!
I had a chance to watch some unguarded animal behavior; I’m not too sure that they even knew I was there on the picnic table. I was struck by how closely the juveniles copied their parents’ behaviors. Wherever the parents swam, they swam. When the parents ducked their heads into the water, they did the same. When the parents preened themselves, they did the same, following the same pattern that they observed: right side, left side, the wings, then the tail.
By the time the family swam to the camp’s swimming beach, the lead swan paused, floating in the shallow water; I think he spotted me. Only when the lead swan stood up & walked in, did the others do the same. They practiced hissing, following the lead swan’s example. They had entered my territory, now, and he was making his family fully aware of that fact.
I now felt quite “stuck” on top of the picnic table. The swan family was blocking my path back to the lodge. I am fully aware of the fuss these large birds can make, should they feel threatened, and, with juveniles in tow, I felt fairly certain that the parent birds would attack.
Thankfully, the camp director arrived on an ATV, to inspect some equipment; he was my “rescue” out of there! The swans did not attack the ATV.
Juvenile swans are learners. They find protection, security and peace in following the example of their experienced parents.
If you had good parents, you would have experienced these same qualities as a child. As we grow older, we put less stock in copying an example, and more trust in what we can do. I guess that it’s all a necessary part in becoming an independent adult.
In our relationship with God, however, we never outgrow our “childhood state.” Apart from following God’s guidance and pattern, we really cannot handle life on this earth! We constantly need someone to follow. Paul gave himself as an example (I Cor. 11:1), and he always pointed to God for one’s final example (Eph. 5:1)
Oh, that we would have the faith of a bird for its parent, as we walk this life with our Heavenly Father!
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