It was a nice day. After the rain, the sun was shining. Gray clouds had been replaced by blue sky. All seemed right in the world. For a moment I just sat there in the truck admiring all that was around me. Suddenly, one of God's creatures landed on the hood. While I am no bird expert, it looked like a small bunting or finch. It had the appearance of having a bad feather day as it looked as if it had just gotten out of the shower. Then, all of a sudden, this bird which landed facing away from me, turned as to eyeball me. No more than a five or six feet separated us as we sat looking at each other through the windshield. It was then that I saw another one of God's creatures. It was a mosquito hawk. Now for the non-informed, mosquito hawks are not birds with great wings, but small insects of two to four inches in length. Actually, I only saw the back half of the mosquito hawk. The front half was already becoming bird food. In a second both ends were gone and in another second or two, my feathered companion was gone, too. Perhaps, it went looking for another mosquito hawk.
Creation is an amazing thing. Anyone who has ever watched a mosquito hawk flitting around in the air can only have appreciation for another winged creature which can catch one while both are flying. It struck me as a marvel of creation. It also spoke a word about the connectedness of the order God has brought into being. Living with respect for every living creature truly is the appropriate way to live. Even sand gnats! Yes, some creatures are a stretch, but even these pesky things are creatures of God.
And then I found myself immediately thinking about Jesus saying, "Don't worry. Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" It was an assuring word in these uncertain times. It was nice to be reminded of God's provision. But, then another question came to mind. I wondered what the mosquito hawk thought as it was becoming lunch.
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1 comment:
Great post Bill. Your story reminds me of summer nights when I was a child living in the country. As kids, we would often watch the bats flying around at dusk (there seemed to be so many of them back then), making their way through the sky in a seemingly hap-hazzard fashion as they devoured a myriad of pesky insects.
I hadn't thought about that memory in ages. Thanks for taking me back a few decades.
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