Each day, while out on my morning walks, I am privileged to be able to observe lots of things in nature. Earlier this morning, as I did so, I had a very uplifting experience.
For as long as I can remember, a flock of vultures has inhabited the airspace above our home and the multitude of pastures and farms that surround us. As a general rule, they keep to themselves as they patrol the skies searching for roadkill and/or natural carrion to consume. In so doing, they fulfill their God-given purpose of keeping the land clear of dead animals and free of any disease or malady otherwise apt to arise.
But after witnessing their morning routine countless times, it finally dawned on me today exactly how they go about their business. After roosting together as a flock for the night in a tall tree, they spread their wings to gather as much warmth and strength from the rising sun as possible.
All along, they are also clearly waiting for the warmth of the sun to begin to heat the atmosphere, producing thermals of warm air that rise from the land. Once fortified, they take to the air in a gliding motion, always taking care to head off in the same direction in which the wind is blowing.
As they plummet, they quickly begin to flap their wings furiously in order to gain speed before the wind. After a good long run, they abruptly turn 180 degrees directly into the wind. As they do, they spread their wings like a canopy, allowing the rush of wind to lift them higher. In my estimation, they rise around 20 to 30 feet, before once again turning 180 degrees and running with the wind, again flapping their wings to gain speed.
After another run, they once again turn quickly into the wind and spread their wings, receiving yet another tremendous lift from the force of the wind beneath their wings. This process is completed some dozen or so times over about a ten to fifteen minute period until they are, quite literally, hundreds and hundreds of feet up in the air.
Once they reach sufficient altitude, they then ride the wind in giant circles, rarely flapping their wings as the currents of air carry them far and wide in search of nourishment.
As I observed this process earlier today, I thought about many things. The first thing that came to my mind was the old Roger Whittaker song, later made most famous by Lou Rawls and then Bette Midler, titled “Wind Beneath My Wings”. The song acknowledges the debt the artist owes to another, with these words:
It must have been cold there in my shadow
To never have sunlight on your face
You were content to let me shine, that's your way
You always walked a step behind!
So I was the one with all the glory
While you were the one with all the strength
A beautiful face without a name for so long
A beautiful smile to hide the pain!
Did you ever know that you're my hero
And everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle
For you are the wind beneath my wings!
It might have appeared to go unnoticed
But I've got it all here in my heart
I want you to know, I know the truth, of course I know it
I would be nothing without you!
How fitting! For very few of us make anything of ourselves in this world without the loving and sacrificial support of others, usually a devoted spouse. This is certainly true for me.
But my reflections quickly went beyond this. For there is yet Another without Whose support none of us would ever soar in life; and that Other One is Almighty God.
In the Old Testament Book of Isaiah (chapter 40, verse 31 HCSB Translation), we read: “But those who trust in the LORD will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.”
In my lifetime, I have had a few opportunities to ascend to great heights. I am not just talking about flying in a jetliner, or standing atop mountains or skyscrapers. All of us have experienced these things.
But whatever your occupation or profession, you along with me, have likely experienced several high points in your career. You have likely made some special trips and witnessed some special events and met some special people. You may even have accomplished some spectacular things along the way. Any number of these things can represent for you the great heights to which we have been privileged to ascend in life.
But one thing is for sure. No matter who we are and no matter how high we are ever privileged to ascend, we do not attain these great heights without the Lord empowering us to rise and to soar aloft!
These thoughts filled my head as I left off viewing the splendor of the flock of birds soaring above me this morning, and continued my walk. All the way home, I found myself first humming, then singing the words to Lisa Ireland's classic 2003 anthem “But Thou, Oh Lord”, as arranged by Bradley Knight, based on the words of the third verse of the third Old Testament Psalm:
Many are they increased that troubled me
Many are they that rise up against me
Many there be which say of my soul
There is no help for him in God
But Thou, oh Lord are a shield for me
My glory and the lifter of my head
Thou, oh Lord are a shield for me
My glory and the lifter of my head
I cried unto the Lord with my voice
And he heard me out of His holy hill
I laid me down and slept and awaked
For the Lord sustained
The Lord sustained me
For Thou, oh Lord are a shield for me
My glory and the lifter of my head
Thou, oh Lord are shield for me
My glory and the lifter of my head
More times than I can count in my life, the Lord has lifted not only my head, but all of me to heights hitherto unattainable. For this, I am and always will be thankful.
I trust you share my sentiment. If not, perhaps you should. Doing so is quite an uplifting experience.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE:
https://biblehub.com/isaiah/40-31.htm;
https://biblehub.com/psalms/3-3.htm.
SEE ALSO:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_Beneath_My_Wings;
https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Bette-Midler/Wind-Beneath-My-Wings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZtDVYOb-fw;
https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/The-Prestonwood-Choir/Thou-Oh-Lord.
For as long as I can remember, a flock of vultures has inhabited the airspace above our home and the multitude of pastures and farms that surround us. As a general rule, they keep to themselves as they patrol the skies searching for roadkill and/or natural carrion to consume. In so doing, they fulfill their God-given purpose of keeping the land clear of dead animals and free of any disease or malady otherwise apt to arise.
But after witnessing their morning routine countless times, it finally dawned on me today exactly how they go about their business. After roosting together as a flock for the night in a tall tree, they spread their wings to gather as much warmth and strength from the rising sun as possible.
All along, they are also clearly waiting for the warmth of the sun to begin to heat the atmosphere, producing thermals of warm air that rise from the land. Once fortified, they take to the air in a gliding motion, always taking care to head off in the same direction in which the wind is blowing.
As they plummet, they quickly begin to flap their wings furiously in order to gain speed before the wind. After a good long run, they abruptly turn 180 degrees directly into the wind. As they do, they spread their wings like a canopy, allowing the rush of wind to lift them higher. In my estimation, they rise around 20 to 30 feet, before once again turning 180 degrees and running with the wind, again flapping their wings to gain speed.
After another run, they once again turn quickly into the wind and spread their wings, receiving yet another tremendous lift from the force of the wind beneath their wings. This process is completed some dozen or so times over about a ten to fifteen minute period until they are, quite literally, hundreds and hundreds of feet up in the air.
Once they reach sufficient altitude, they then ride the wind in giant circles, rarely flapping their wings as the currents of air carry them far and wide in search of nourishment.
As I observed this process earlier today, I thought about many things. The first thing that came to my mind was the old Roger Whittaker song, later made most famous by Lou Rawls and then Bette Midler, titled “Wind Beneath My Wings”. The song acknowledges the debt the artist owes to another, with these words:
It must have been cold there in my shadow
To never have sunlight on your face
You were content to let me shine, that's your way
You always walked a step behind!
So I was the one with all the glory
While you were the one with all the strength
A beautiful face without a name for so long
A beautiful smile to hide the pain!
Did you ever know that you're my hero
And everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle
For you are the wind beneath my wings!
It might have appeared to go unnoticed
But I've got it all here in my heart
I want you to know, I know the truth, of course I know it
I would be nothing without you!
How fitting! For very few of us make anything of ourselves in this world without the loving and sacrificial support of others, usually a devoted spouse. This is certainly true for me.
But my reflections quickly went beyond this. For there is yet Another without Whose support none of us would ever soar in life; and that Other One is Almighty God.
In the Old Testament Book of Isaiah (chapter 40, verse 31 HCSB Translation), we read: “But those who trust in the LORD will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.”
In my lifetime, I have had a few opportunities to ascend to great heights. I am not just talking about flying in a jetliner, or standing atop mountains or skyscrapers. All of us have experienced these things.
But whatever your occupation or profession, you along with me, have likely experienced several high points in your career. You have likely made some special trips and witnessed some special events and met some special people. You may even have accomplished some spectacular things along the way. Any number of these things can represent for you the great heights to which we have been privileged to ascend in life.
But one thing is for sure. No matter who we are and no matter how high we are ever privileged to ascend, we do not attain these great heights without the Lord empowering us to rise and to soar aloft!
These thoughts filled my head as I left off viewing the splendor of the flock of birds soaring above me this morning, and continued my walk. All the way home, I found myself first humming, then singing the words to Lisa Ireland's classic 2003 anthem “But Thou, Oh Lord”, as arranged by Bradley Knight, based on the words of the third verse of the third Old Testament Psalm:
Many are they increased that troubled me
Many are they that rise up against me
Many there be which say of my soul
There is no help for him in God
But Thou, oh Lord are a shield for me
My glory and the lifter of my head
Thou, oh Lord are a shield for me
My glory and the lifter of my head
I cried unto the Lord with my voice
And he heard me out of His holy hill
I laid me down and slept and awaked
For the Lord sustained
The Lord sustained me
For Thou, oh Lord are a shield for me
My glory and the lifter of my head
Thou, oh Lord are shield for me
My glory and the lifter of my head
More times than I can count in my life, the Lord has lifted not only my head, but all of me to heights hitherto unattainable. For this, I am and always will be thankful.
I trust you share my sentiment. If not, perhaps you should. Doing so is quite an uplifting experience.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE:
https://biblehub.com/isaiah/40-31.htm;
https://biblehub.com/psalms/3-3.htm.
SEE ALSO:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_Beneath_My_Wings;
https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Bette-Midler/Wind-Beneath-My-Wings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZtDVYOb-fw;
https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/The-Prestonwood-Choir/Thou-Oh-Lord.