At the rented house on the shore over in Gulf Breeze, Florida, we enjoyed sitting by the bay watching the pelicans on the pilings nearby. One morning our son called out, "Mom bring the binoculars!" So I dutifully brought those glasses that I keep handy even more than ever these days, and stepped out onto the stone patio lining the bank. "Look out by the pelicans in the water," he urged.
I did as directed, watching the half dozen pelicans that had left their manmade perches and dropped into the water. It was obvious what they were doing. The water around them roiled with activity beneath the surface and the birds constantly poked their whole heads under, coming up with fish after fish. Then suddenly I saw what he wanted me to see—fins! A small pod of dolphins had joined the fray, surfacing here and there for a breath, eating alongside the pelicans.
I wondered about that. Here they were right beside one another, in fact, the pelicans often swam between and around the surfacing fins. One set of eaters was avian and the other mammalian. One set was considerably larger. One could descend several feet and the other only float. Yet they never got in one another's way, never fought over a fish, and never even swam away in fright. They got along and everyone ate their fill.
Even these days, when so many seem to think we have finally been enlightened, we have trouble doing those things. Sometimes it's race, sometimes it's nationality, sometimes it's even which part of the country you hail from. Sometimes it's how much money you make and which neighborhood you live in. To our shame, sometimes it's politics. Yet we have so much more in common than a pelican and a dolphin. One has fins, the other wings. If they were humans, my experience tells me that would be enough to fight about. What is wrong with us?
Here is what matters: We are all sinners depending upon the grace of God. We all rely upon a God who emptied Himself and became a Jewish man, a carpenter, blue collar at best, who died on our behalf. We are all saved because He rose from the dead and offered us a way to do the same.
Some of us are pelicans and some are dolphins, but it really doesn't matter which is which. Let's all just get along, eat our fill when we assemble, and help one another along the way, because none of us is better than the other in any form or fashion.
For you are all sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ. There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for you all are one man in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, heirs according to promise (Gal 3:26-29).
Dene Ward
I did as directed, watching the half dozen pelicans that had left their manmade perches and dropped into the water. It was obvious what they were doing. The water around them roiled with activity beneath the surface and the birds constantly poked their whole heads under, coming up with fish after fish. Then suddenly I saw what he wanted me to see—fins! A small pod of dolphins had joined the fray, surfacing here and there for a breath, eating alongside the pelicans.
I wondered about that. Here they were right beside one another, in fact, the pelicans often swam between and around the surfacing fins. One set of eaters was avian and the other mammalian. One set was considerably larger. One could descend several feet and the other only float. Yet they never got in one another's way, never fought over a fish, and never even swam away in fright. They got along and everyone ate their fill.
Even these days, when so many seem to think we have finally been enlightened, we have trouble doing those things. Sometimes it's race, sometimes it's nationality, sometimes it's even which part of the country you hail from. Sometimes it's how much money you make and which neighborhood you live in. To our shame, sometimes it's politics. Yet we have so much more in common than a pelican and a dolphin. One has fins, the other wings. If they were humans, my experience tells me that would be enough to fight about. What is wrong with us?
Here is what matters: We are all sinners depending upon the grace of God. We all rely upon a God who emptied Himself and became a Jewish man, a carpenter, blue collar at best, who died on our behalf. We are all saved because He rose from the dead and offered us a way to do the same.
Some of us are pelicans and some are dolphins, but it really doesn't matter which is which. Let's all just get along, eat our fill when we assemble, and help one another along the way, because none of us is better than the other in any form or fashion.
For you are all sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ. There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for you all are one man in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, heirs according to promise (Gal 3:26-29).
Dene Ward
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