Boy, today I'd give about anything if I would have had my little digital
recorder with me in my shirt pocket so I could have recorded this below.
Low Flying Geese
By Phil Scovell
It is mid March today, I was taking out some trash and just as I started to
tilt my office
trash barrel into the larger city barrel, I heard them and froze. Geese
from somewhere where
coming and they were low and close this time. I waited. Their honking
echoed all around me
between the buildings and vehicles parked on the property. "Where were
they?" I wondered.
My son's house is perched on the back end of what once was all one long
piece of land in west
Denver. In 1950, the 4-lane road out in front of my home, running north and
south across most
of Denver, was dirt, according to our elderly neighbor before she died.
Although I live in the
city and county of Denver, there is a well dug on my property, believe it or
not, but also
according to the same elderly neighbor, across the dirt road was nothing but
wheat fields back in
the fifties. Now, of course, there is nothing but houses and buildings;
including a church I used
to attend many years ago as a Baptist. Across the street is actually
another city called Lakewood,
Colorado. Amazingly enough, although I have lived in this house since
September 1 of 1983, I
am the second owner. The first owner also built the house in which I now
live. I'm not even a
native Coloradoian. My home is Des Moines, Iowa. This house, therefore,
was being built, one
day at a time, by one man, and his neighbor, two years before I was even
born. Living deep
within the city as I am, I miss hearing the birds that are further out into
the countryside but
occasionally, a flock of ducks, or geese, fly over, heading generally north
or south. Even if I'm
indoors, if I hear them coming, I always stop and listen for as long as I
can hear them passing.
Today was no different. A simple, mundane task, of dumping my trash into
the city barrel that
would be picked up in a few days, caused me a few seconds of Godly
appreciation. Although
this time of year is still considered winter in Denver, and since I've lived
in Colorado from
September of 1972, I've seen snow in late May. Regardless, even in mid
winter, we have 50 and
55 degree days of warm sunshine and unless you step into a shady spot, it
feels like summer.
Today was such a day. The 4-lane road in front of our house, perhaps 75
feet or more from
where I was standing, even at that time of day is quite busy and noisy but I
still heard the
approaching geese. "Here they come," I said out loud but I was still unable
to tell from which
direction but I could tell this pass would be close. It was indeed close.
They passed nearly over
my son's house in our backyard less than 50 feet away. They were low flying
and honking their
communications to each other rhythmically and as they passed perhaps no more
than 100 feet
down range from where I stood, I called up to them and said hello a couple
of times. Soon, far
too soon, they were passing where I stood in our driveway and I called
goodbye to them as they
continued their trek to some unknown southerly destination. Their honking
was so precise and
perfectly formed; no one could doubt they were calling out direction and
encouragement to each
other. I knew they were praising God, too. Think about it. If I could
hear them and they
attracted my attention, forcing me to stop what I was doing just to hear
them, what do you think
God was doing at that same time? I wish the church were more like geese in
this manner of
equality, friendship, togetherness, unity, and direction of awareness. I
wish the church praised
the name of the Creator, and His Son, too, through the ministry of the Holy
Spirit but
unfortunately, the interest, over many years of even my own life of nearly 6
decades, has shifted
from the individual to the many; the one verses the most. How sad God must
be. The good
news is, on the other hand, one day, and it often seems like very soon, He
is coming back for a
church without spot or wrinkle. If that is true, a lot of changes are going
to be made within the
body of His Believers before that day when we all will pass into glory as
geese sharing their
camaraderie by doing nothing more natural to them than flying and honking
their identity in
unison in God's Kingdom. Today I wished I could have been one of them just
for a few
moments.
How Big Is God? The Size Of Your Mouth.
www.SafePlaceFellowship.com
|