Growing up on a farm I learned at an early point in life
that the world God created is pretty interesting. Among my earliest “remembered
thoughts” is fascination with the fact that you could plant a little seed with
fuzzy stuff on its outside in the spring, and by early fall it will have
produced cotton. From the barely peaking out from under the soil first sight of
something amazing, to beautiful white flowers that turn pink by the end of the
day with the bees have finished their work, to “bolls” that are hard, green,
and pointy, and finally to those bolls bursting open with beautiful white
cotton – with more of those fuzzy little seeds.
Next time you put on a clean, fresh cotton shirt – you might
want to say a little prayer of thanksgiving for the way the good Lord made
creation!
I have early memories of dairy cows. At my grandfather’s
dairy farm, they all had names. I was pretty young when I knew I could call
them all by name. One was called “Themesong” because the grandkids came home
from Vacation Bible School singing the “themesong” about the time she was born.
There was April, May, and June as I remember, and Queen – her name says all
that needs to be said. I remember the morning my grandfather told me April had
died overnight giving birth to a new calf. She was brown and white in color,
and had deep, brown eyes. I can still see her in my imagination.
I’m not a vegetarian, but honestly if I start thinking about
April and her friends while eating steak, it makes eating very difficult.
When I was about twelve, I remember killing a pretty big
rattle snake (remember this is the South Carolina low country where I’m growing
up!) with my BB rifle. I shot it right between the eyes somehow and it died.
Out in the woods – where I always would go when opportunity arose – had the
snake bitten me you’d probably need to visit me at my grave at Russellville
Christian Church cemetery. I think my mother wondered if she had given birth to
the next Chuck Connors and The Rifleman
or perhaps God must have something planned for me.
If you pay attention, there are lots of observations from
nature that will get you on your knees thanking God.
When Point University moved from East Point to West Point,
more than a few people asked me “When are you moving to West Point?” I have
nothing against West Point and am thrilled when I see the impact Point has had
on this little town and its surroundings, but my answer was (and is) “I’m not.”
That was always followed with “you’re going to drive to West Point from Tyrone
every day?” The answer, “Yes, it’s not that far!”
When people pressed further on this issue I often say, “I’ve
spent too much time and too many dollars in my yard – I can’t walk away from
that.” Creation – plant life as well as
creatures – is way too fascinating to ignore.
In my yard in Tyrone I have plants given to me by people
like Ramona Brown, John Wade, Orval Morgan, our neighbors in East Point the
Burnetts, Irma Redmon, the old ACC campus, the Petenbrinks, my parents, my good friends
the Atkinsons, and others. I can walk around and show you plants given to us
when mine and Vicki’s parents died over the years, plants given to us when one
of us was hospitalized, and plants we saw somewhere and just bought. We have
plants that were on the pool deck at Vicki’s mother’s home in St. Petersburg
when she died and I’ve kept them going, rooted new versions, and shared with
others – even in the more challenging north Georgia climate for “Florida comfortable”
plants.
If we just slow down enough to notice, creation is amazing.
Or, as the psalmist declared, “The heavens declare the glory of God.” (Ps. 19:1-6)
Yesterday I was with our oldest daughter Sarah as she was
moving into her new house. We were at the storage facility where her worldly
possessions were being loaded by movers to be taken to her new home. I went
over to my car to get a drink of iced coffee I had left there. As I went to
open the door there was a huge praying mantis right by the handle. I jumped
back – insects make me nervous
Here he (or she!) is:
.
I decided maybe I wasn’t thirsty after all and walked away,
hoping it would be gone by the time I came back. Thirty or so minutes later, I
came back and sure enough, it was still there. I went around to the back and
got a magazine from a box I was taking to Sarah’s. I brushed the mantis away. I
thought they were more hoppers – but this dude could fly. He went sailing
across the parking lot doing all sorts of mantis acrobatics.
Finally he was about 150 feet away, flying over the top of
the moving truck, when out of nowhere a mocking bird came into sight. I don’t
know if the mocking bird missed on the first dive bomb or was doing some sort
of set up maneuver, but it missed on the first effort.
The mocking bird quickly did a few acrobatics itself and
came up from under and behind the mantis and grabbed it. The mantis lost that
battle, but the mocking bird family must have had a feast. It was at least four
inches long and in my imagination I can see a little family of baby mocking
birds thinking “Man, what parents we have!” At some point, it is all about
perspective.
If you’re the mantis, you are probably thinking “If that guy
would have just left me alone I’d still be here.” If you’re the mocking bird, you might think, “What
a great guy – he made the mantis fly right in front of me and look at the lunch
we had!”
That little story may be a pretty good reminder that while
creation does bear witness to God’s “invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power
and divine nature,” (Romans 1:20) we should temper our observations from creation
with “the law of the Lord” and “the testimony of the Lord” which are “perfect”
and “sure.” (Ps. 19:7-11)
Like creation and Scripture – Psalm 19 remains a mystery to
me. It seems that when I pay attention to the world God made around me and
engage in His intentional revelation in the Word (ultimately “the Word that
became flesh" – John 1:14) I have a much better potential to achieve a place in
life where “the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable
in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (Ps. 19:14)
If you’re wondering, this may be why I keep telling Point
students and anyone else who might occasionally listen to me: read Scripture outside and pay attention to both creation and the Word!
If that mantis could write a book it would surely need to be
titled, To Be Killed by a Mocking Bird.
I can only wonder what the plot line would be. I’m pretty sure I’d get blamed
for its demise!
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