If you enjoy bird watching, then you would be awe struck by Ted who is the editor of the American Bird Association. He led a group of enthusiastic bird watchers on a walk into Fry’s Landing on Presque Island in Erie, PA. In three hours he identified over 65 birds simply by listening to their calls and watching the birds behavior. Warblers were the main creatures that were most prominent on this trail. What’s most fascinating is the behavior of the bird watchers themselves. Packed with their binoculars or “scopes,” these people get very serious as they slowly stake out the trail. You hear shouts like “what’d you see” or “over there” then the infamous “WHERE?”Ted pointed out warblers with names like magnolia, Nashville and yellow rumped.” Then he spotted cedar waxwing, American redstart, chestnut sided, eastern towhee, swamp sparrows and a Baltimore oriole. The group was fascinated by his skill to simply listen and look into the trees or bush and point out each bird.
Sadly, I had come with my camera to take a National Geographic shot of the birds. “Come over here” or “look up there” was a lesson that taught me that something was lacking in my skills. In life, we often are too busy running around from one spot to another and not accomplishing much despite all our efforts. On this morning, all my shots were specks in the distance. I later learned that if you really want to take photos of birds you let them come to you.
Unless, you spend $15,000 on telephoto lens, the next best way to take photos of these feathered friends is to find a log and sit and wait for them to come to you. In many ways, our search to find God is simply His desire that we become more dependent upon Him for every step. That’s because He wants to take us places we have never been. To heights we cannot even imagine. In order to do that, we have to go through those low valleys, treacherous mountains, rough terrain and narrow paths of life-places where we could easily get lost or off the track.
Walking in a strange woods, there is definitely no way we can just head off on our own and expect to arrive safely in the place God has planned for us. We will never know the joy of true freedom until we learn that we cannot take a single step without His help.
God prays for us as we reflect: “Come and let us walk in the light of the Lord.” Isaiah 2:5.
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that they learn to take a breath and allow your Spirit to guide us on a path that calms our fears and soothes our sorrows. Guide our path this summer as we see the beauty of your creation and hear the sound of your call in the woods, along the streams, from a robin in our backyard, and in the arms of our “loved ones.”
