Russ' Ramblings

Matthew 16:24-25; 1 Corinthians 11:1

Nature teaches some wonderful lessons, if we are willing to see and learn.

One of my favorite vacations to take is a trip to the Florida coast, along the Gulf of Mexico. Mornings are often the best part of the day. Sitting on a porch or balcony in the morning hours is a great time and place to have a cup of coffee and do some daily Bible reading. There are few distractions, and generally few people even strolling on the beach in the early morning. When the Bible reading is done, it is great to just sit and watch the dolphins, seagulls, and other wildlife as they move within their natural habitat.

It was just such a morning, as I sat to follow my enjoyable practice, that I noticed some interesting behavior that gave me some food for thought. Of course there are a lot of animal behaviors that are fun to watch. Sea birds of many kinds are common to the area. Gulls are often on the beach. They look for bits of food among the things left by visitors to the beach. There are also those birds that fly in circles until they see something edible beneath the surface of the water. They then tuck their wings and dive straight into the water. As they resurface, they are sometimes swallowing their catch, and other times it is obvious that no catch was made. Still, the behavior that caught my attention was what might be a little less dramatic. I watched as a line of about eight or ten pelicans (I believe they were some kind of pelican) as they flew, one behind the other, from right to left in front of me. They were about forty yards from me, and about twenty yards from shore. They were flying about eight feet above the water. They looked quite graceful and ordered as they flew. Then the first bird suddenly dipped toward the surface of the water. He leveled his flight about five feet from the water, traveled at that height for about two or three feet, and then returned to the former elevation to continue the flight. I surmised that the bird had seen something in the water and moved to a closer position. Either the possible dinner disappeared, or the bird was mistaken. It was probably the former. Now the described behavior might seem kind of expected by most of us, and I would agree. It was what followed that brought my reflection. Not only did the first bird dive closer to the water, the following birds did exactly the same. It was as if they were on a track that would not allow them any variation. The birds were spaced at such a distance that from the third bird to the end of the line, they could easily see that the “lead bird” had returned to the original height. There was no reason for them to lower and rise again. Yet they did. Every single one of them followed the exact pattern of their leader. At first, I wondered why they would follow such an unnecessary path, but surrendered to accepting the simple minds of birds.

Humans and birds are not so different. Jesus noted that people are like sheep in need of a shepherd to lead them (Matthew 9:36). So, it is not much of a stretch to relate to birds. The notable matter is the willingness to follow. All too often, we humans would rather follow than think. While thinking may bring some large challenges, it may avoid some time in the ditch (Luke 6:39). Quite frankly, we like to follow, even if no real purpose is served. Consider how many of us have been in large arenas or stadiums and have done the “wave”. We can look through history and see the continuing presence of abusive leaders who have always had a ready supply of followers.

So, maybe the lesson in this is pretty simple. Most of us are going to be followers. It is a good thing to be a follower (Mark 1:17). Being a follower doesn’t remove all responsibilities. Make sure of who you are following, and where it is that your leader is going.