Born Free

"Look, that goose is still there!" I exclaimed to my husband when I saw it loitering at the edge of the water around the small island in the pond.  Then I peered further through the binoculars and saw one sitting in a clump of wild grass on top of the large mound of earth.

"There are two of them," I mused, then it hit me!  "She is setting on a nest of eggs, and the male is keeping watch!"  Of course!  Why else would he be lingering there so long when no other geese were in sight.  This was an interesting development in my pond observations!  Not only was it fun to see the blue heron standing majestically by, or catch sight of the turtle sunning itself, and wonder about the resident beaver, now perhaps soon I would see a parade of downy fluffs paddling after their mother!

Watching wildlife in their freedom living peacefully  in God's creation is a relaxing and  therapeutic pasttime  that leaves me refreshed and with a new perspective when we drive away.

It reminded me of something my daughter Amy said to me yesterday.  She mentioned that, in her job as a nurse, she had been interviewing a patient who had come in with another woman in preparation for outpatient surgery.  She said they seemed foreign, and she found out they were Kurdish.  "Mama, these were the most delightful women!"  she said,  "Even though one of them had had major problems and was facing surgery, they seemed so positive and happy!"

I could understand why with her next words.  "The older woman introduced the younger one as her sister.  She said, 'My mother gave me my sister when we fled our country to escape death under Sadam Hussein.'  Mama, they said they love it here!  They said they are free!  The woman said, 'I was under the sentence of death! It is so wonderful to be free!'" Amy said she had never seen people so joyous and grateful.

My daughter said it made her think, as she reflected on the fact that before she became a Christian, she, too, was under the sentence of death.  "But now I am free with a life in Christ, and that should fill me with joy!  I was ashamed of ever complaining about anything, when I have the best reason of all to be joyful and happy!"

The male goose stays near the nest to keep watch over it, especially when the female leaves it briefly to feed, although he does not stay so close as to reveal its location to predators. (That's why the male was lingering so nonchalantly in the water!)  The instinct to protect the eggs causes the female to disguise her nest with sticks and twigs when she leaves it.

Jesus is a Friend who sticks closer than a brother, Proverbs 18:24.  He is an ever-present help in time of trouble, Psalms 46:1. From now on when I see geese flying over the pond, free as the breeze,  I will think of the freedom we have in Christ as our spirits soar with Him, at peace, but oh, so full of joy at being redeemed from the sentence of death!