As I made the turn on the light, I was attracted to a few birds that I had never seen before. I tried to keep my attention on driving as well as observing them sufficiently to be able to study them later. The black and white made me chuckle as I envisioned their readiness for a very “high” social event.
As I read details concerning these birds, it was obvious that I had observed a Killdeer. I wondered why I had never observed them in that area previously. I pass there almost daily. I discovered that it is a plover and belongs to one of the fastest flying families in the world; further, this bird can stay in the air for hours at a time. He stands like a sandpiper and runs amazingly fast.
What caught my attention most deeply was something written by Gusse Thomas Smith. “I saw a Killdeer do his ‘strut dance’ once, just as daylight dimmed toward dusk. He was all-alone, the world forgotten. In fact I edged up very near him and stood unnoticed for fully twenty minutes. All his motions, even his low, chuckling exultations were remarkably like those of a turkey gobbler except that his tail was not held erect but fanned straight backward or dipped downward with quivering ecstasy. He swayed from side to side, dragging first one wing then the other. His head kept time with his feet and he danced in every feather — bursting with the joy of being alive, not trying to impress anybody. That’s true enthusiasm for life — dancing alone in the desert!”
Sometimes I dread asking people: “How are you?” The answer can be long and leave me feeling as though I have been run over by a steamroller. Morbidity seems to run in some folk’s lives. Depression oozes out of every crevice of their personality.
For those of us who have experienced salvation, having been saved by the blood of God’s beloved Son, Jesus, the exact opposite should be the case. Like the Killdeer, we should be: “bursting with the joy of being alive, not trying to impress anybody.” We hear the Apostle Paul saying: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say: REJOICE!” (Philippians 4:4) The Killdeer, “danced in every feather”. Need I repeat that this is what needs to be demonstrated in our lives, irrespective of our circumstances?
“Enthusiasm for life” should be reflected in and through us as we go through life. People around us should have no question about our confidence in God. Let it be known that here is another day made by our Father and we are above ground enjoying the oxygen from every breath we breathe. Rejoice my friend! Rejoice in the Lord!
ETCetera 