God Does Give A Honk

God Does Give A Honk

 

1/5/12

 

 

Humans are extraordinary creatures in the manner of lifestyles and the paths that we take during our existence on earth.  The pathways that we endure during our lifetime bring us many objects that can hinder our spirits in many ways.  They are varied and can present interesting stories when we tell them to fellow travelers.  One shared experience is that we all have troubles, we deal with those troubles and we continue with our journey.  Many times we forget that God is a forgiving God and He wants us to listen to His words and follow His examples.  There is a reason that we are here on earth and it may be rough along the way but God does have an answer.

I realize that I have written about this special purpose topic a couple of times now but I want the people who read this message to grasp the truth that you are special and that your life does matter.  I cannot say for sure but I honestly believe that this will not be my last message on this topic; and since God is directing these messages…I let him take the lead.  However, I had no idea that God would use my enthusiasm about geese formations as a part of my restoration process.  I am learning that God has a unique way of letting other people know, along with myself, of how He loves us and how special we are to Him no matter what patterns we display, how many shapes or sizes we have or acquire throughout our life.  I guess we will see in the future how many other examples He will use to let these people know His love for them.  So here goes the message from a human’s view of the formation of flying geese.

 

In the community where I live there is a small wildlife refuge that more geese know about than humans.  It is not large enough to be considered a national park or any tourist attraction but it provides a stopping point for the migrating geese in the fall and in the spring.  This so-called refuge is located on two man-made lakes both of which are within a few miles apart; and to be complete we have to include a few spots along the river as well.  There is always some type of bird species located at one of these spots but not as many in number as Canadian geese.

 

Hundreds of geese fly to this place to complete their daily activities and just do whatever migrating geese do and after a selected amount of time they gather up the troops and off they go.  Some actually decide to stay, for whatever reason, and make this area their home for an extended amount of time.  These geese actually will give birth to their chicks and watch them mature until one day they decided it is time to leave in which they fly away and go on about their business.

Ever since I have been in this area I have loved to stand and watch the geese fly in their formations heading to their next destination.  But lately I have been really interested in how they actually form their flying “V” and I find it just as fascinating of how the geese approach the flying formation, it actually reminds me of how we as humans come to God and the path that we take.  This is not the first time that I have been around migrating birds or any other type of large bird groups but it is the first time that I have made any type of their flying formation and compared it to human life.

Geese on the ground are constantly moving about and making sure that everything in their immediate surroundings is where it is supposed to be.  My youngest daughter does not like the geese ever since one of them got after her thinking she was going to attack the other members of the flock.  Others think it is neat, especially some of the kids, when a goose comes up to us and begins to follow us, look at us and basically just takes an interest in us.  And we all know it is a great feeling to have the opportunity to feed them, remembers doing that when I was a kid.  I do not know about the people reading this message would agree with me but I find it relaxing to sit and watch geese or ducks alongside a pond, river, or lake.

When it is time to leave the area and continue towards the next stop in the journey, one goose takes control of the situation and begins to alarm the others that it is time to leave.  The beginning steps of the flying formation process look and sound like a calamity and can either occur on land or in the water, but it is soon becomes evident that only one goose is going to be the leader of the congregating flock.  The gathering process has a specific amount of time to complete and then without warning the lead goose takes off and the other geese soon join her / him in the air.   The geese on land will waddle around a bit and make a huge racket as they are begin to leave the ground; it takes them a short distance but they are soon in the air.  The same goes for the water based geese in that they make the same amount of racket but the addition of their legs and wings splashing in the water during takeoff is a sight to see.  To be honest it is kind of comical in a certain way but at the same time the job gets done.

 

As I watch the geese begin to take to the air I notice that some of the geese are joining from the land and some are joining from the water and many times the geese are located in the same immediate area.  What is interesting is that not every goose in the area will be joining the flock that is leaving.  To the human eye and common mind it looks, and sounds, like the other geese are not paying attention and actually do not seem to care that some are about to leave the area.  My only thought about this is that for whatever reason the geese that do not leave at that time are not tuned into the one voice at that moment.  I know they hear that voice, but for some reason, they ignore it.

When the geese are airborne they begin to move into the direction of the lead goose.  Each one has its own flight pattern and method of joining the rest of the flock.  They are at different levels in the air, coming from different directions, some in pairs or small groups and others are by themselves but they all have one thing in common they continue to honk and fly towards the lead goose.  But from what I have been told and what I read in my Ornithology class in college, is that the lead goose knows each goose that is following by the sound that they are making.  The lead goose does not stop and wait for the others to join up nor does it fly so fast that the others cannot catch up, but it is at a regular pace so that all who chose to join the formation has the opportunity to fall into their place.

As this scene plays out and some of the geese follow the leader, I am reminded of when Jesus came to each of the disciples and how he convinced them to follow him instead of relying on their daily activities.  Each of them were performing their daily duties and completing the tasks of the day.  Each of them had the choice to accept or reject His offer.  The Bible states that some did not go willingly at first while others greeted Him with open arms.  But I do know that all twelve disciples’ lives changed once the heeded the call from God.  As I watch all the geese take their place in the flying formation, I now think of each person who decides to follow Christ.  All of us come from various cultures, languages, shapes and sizes and as you look at us, none of us are the same.  We arrive into Christ the exact same way. We are wobbly, dirty, smelly and we look like we have been through the ringer but none of us are turned away after hearing the call.         

How many things have we done in our past that we bring into the fold and how many times have we straggled into situations that we regret later on in life.  God is not looking for the perfect person; in fact I compare the perfect person to the geese that hear the call to leave but chose not to follow into another area of life.  God accepts us just as we are and then He will lead us to the next step in our lives.  We cannot change our past experiences including the ones that produce the scars that stay with us forever.  Only God has the capability to heal our pasts and to give us the desire to improve ourselves by using our experience as a guide, smoothing over our scars and picking us up and beginning again.  Never forget that Jesus himself kept the scars that were given to Him by other humans.

Humans have no choice but to travel their own journey through life for it is one of the cruel guarantees in life.  Along this journey we allow ourselves to be placed into situations that can drag us down and sometimes can cloud our direction.  It will always be the individual’s choice to be placed into these situations.  Life can be harsh at times and could take a toll on our wills to survive but even through these times God is our creator and will provide many opportunities for each of them to return to the fold.  So the question is why do we wait so long for our specific time before returning?

The moment we hear God’s voice and lift our eyes towards Him, the restoration process begins.  The process of us joining the flock has commenced even though we are still on the ground we are preparing ourselves for liftoff.  Once we choose to pick ourselves out of the muck that we have been living in, and hear the voice of God calling to us we then have made the decision to rise up out of current conditions and better ourselves with a new leader.  The restoration process makes us look a tad funny to others at times and could even seem impossible to achieve, but as a great coach once said “Never, Never Ever Give Up” because the end result will prove to be a remarkable change in our atmosphere.  We also do not need to forget that there are people still on the ground that are watching us and wondering where we are going.

Even after we have joined God’s flock and are safely “flying” with Him, we will still not be perfect by any means.  If you look at a completed flock in the air it still has flaws in its formation.  Our human form that we all know and love will continue to reap the benefits of nature which always means trials and slip ups.  However, when this occurs we do not have to drag ourselves through the muck once again all we need to do is look back in the direction of God and listen to His voice for correction and guidance.  We must accept the fact that this portion of our life is not going to change while we are still active on this earth, which allows us to trust and depend on God for our eternal safety.  So the next time we see any type of bird flying in a formation or birds trying to get a formation, let us reflect on our lives and remember that we too are trying our best to change towards being a better person for God.  As I stated before I am fascinated with how the formation of a flock of geese actually occurs, just think of how fascinating it is to God when our lives take a turn towards Him which proves that God really does give a honk.

DLB