A Word from Dean: Nature’s Lessons

Soon after the spectacular solar eclipse was over, I was out walking our dog around 5:00. Geese were heard honking above my head, and when I looked up, I saw two geese, unusually low in the sky, zooming on down the hill ahead of me. I mean they were fast! And about two minutes later, they returned lickety-split in the opposite direction; still honking.

I’ve never seen geese do such an about-face. Then it occurred to me that the eclipse may have disoriented them. Maybe the darkness had somehow separated them from the rest of their gaggle; perhaps they were frantically lost. 

You can see where I’m going with this. We humans can get pretty disoriented by dark events beyond our control and lose sight of our supportive community and the One at its head. Without our connection to our friends in faith and God, we are lost – maybe without even knowing we are.

Many years ago, Browne Barr wrote a book about churches, entitled “High Flying Geese.” Each chapter spoke about geese and what their behavior can teach us Christians. For instance, one chapter was “Flying in V Formation”, and it explained how geese and the church need a leader at the front of the V, but how the geese take leadership turns. They rotate positions. Similarly, leaders in the church need to rotate, giving new folks a turn up front.

It's fun to ponder God’s natural world, and what we can learn from it. What have you observed lately?

Grace and peace,

Dean