One Lucky Guy

Of all the big obvious things to be thankful for, I'm thankful for all them: family, friends, health, employment... I am truly one lucky guy when it comes to all these things. At the community Thanksgiving Service last Sunday, when I asked the congregation to name those things for which they are thankful, my teenage son was the first to shoot up his hand and he said, "family." I'm thankful for him too, as well as the rest of my children, and most especially my wife, who could find plenty of reasons not to put up with me but does anyway!

When I named my items of gratitude, I decided to add to the obvious with a more subtle list of small joys that make life so very rich. In the days preceding the service, I had first seen the David Grisman Quintet in concert, then held a saw-whet owl while volunteering at a banding station, then spent a gorgeous day on Nantucket Sound seeing thousands of birds all around the boat (the photo above doesn't do justice to the vast numbers, but it does include a Lesser Black-backed Gull, a Black-legged Kittiwake or two, and few Greater Shearwaters).

Isn't always those simple joys that stand out from the routine of our lives that make us recognize the full extent of the rich blessings that come from God? Of course the birds of the air (and sea in this case) do that for me. How about you? I think that it is the smaller blessings that help us to develop a complete and genuine attitude of gratitude.

Named and Claimed

Recently, I preached about naming and claiming. In that sermon I suggested that it is suspect theology to think that we can boss God around by naming promises that God has made and then claiming them for ourselves. Likewise, the blessing often promised by those holding this view is material gain. My point about claiming possessions is that the possessions ultimately claim you. In fact, one who is too concerned about possessions might rightly be called possessed.

Since that sermon, on one of my birding expeditions I saw a life bird (i.e. one I had never seen before). It actually was a species that didn't used to be a species. When I started birding there were Sharp-tailed Sparrows. I've seen a lot of Sharp-tailed Sparrows over the years. But a number of years ago, the species was divided into Salt-marsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows and Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow. The sharp-taileds I regularly see are of the Salt Marsh variety. Had I seen what later became Nelson's? Perhaps, but even so, I needed to see one after the split to make it "official." So I have been hunting this species for a number of year's now. It occurred to me, that although there are subtle differences between these species, the power lay in the name itself. I was "claimed by the name!" More to the point is my current obsession with trying to find a Cackling Goose (you can see more pictures here) This species used to be considered a sub-species of the Canada Goose and was called a Richardson's Goose. I've actually seen a Richardson Goose, but it was years ago when it wasn't its own species, so officially it was a Canada Goose. A few show up in the area every fall, so I'm constantly flustered by reports that leave me a day late and a dollar short. If the powers that be ever decide to do the same sort of splitting to make Oregon Junco a separate species I'll face the same silly dilemma.

Is all of this just a bit obsessive and not particularly important? You bet it is, but it is important to me. We all can be possessed and controlled by worries that are far less important than life and death. I will wander into fields full of thorns and burrs to chase a sparrow, but in the end I walk away when the chase is over, even if the bird remains "in the bush" and not "in my hand," that is, on my list. Are their topics and issues that burn in you that possess and control you? What names claim you and your attention, liberal? conservative? Democrat? Republican? Pro-life? Pro-choice? The list could go on. If there are topics on which you always take the bait, then maybe you owe yourself the gift of an exorcism. Sometimes we all need to just walk away from a chase that is over. Tomorrow is another day and why ruin the wonderful gift known as the present?