I have observed for the past several days, birds hanging out on the church parking lot. I walk near the North end of the building and one will feign injury and limp away with a wing appearing to be of no use. I understand this as an attempt to lure me away from the nest. Driving into the parking lot, I noticed the bird hunkered down and seemingly daring me to drive toward it. She was standing her ground. She wasn’t running away. I walk over to the location where she was and find on the ground two eggs. No nest was there, just eggs amidst the rocks; eggs hidden in plain sight. While I don’t want to go to far in attributing human characteristics to these birds, I am impressed by their faith, a faith that allows them to raise a family on dangerous ground, a love that prompts them to defend their young, yet to be born. I often hear the lament, “this is a dangerous time for Christians to raise children.” Maybe so. I looked up this bird and identified it as a Killdeer, order: Charadriiformes of the Plover family (Charadriiae), scientific name: Chavoc. I also learned that it is among the least endangered birds in the world. Go figure! Perhaps the children of Christians are safer than we might think. After all, they have Christian parents who guide them, parents who try to deter those who would cause them harm, parents who would even die for their children. We are of the order of Christ, the family of Christ, scientific name: His! God cares for the Killdeer. He most certainly cares for you.
|