FireQuill Publications
The
Short Stories, Plays and Bible Studies of Kathy Kearney
The
Short Stories, Plays and Bible Studies of Kathy Kearney
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The Way Of Eagle's
THE WAY Of EAGLES
By: Kathy Kearney (c) 1995
By: Kathy Kearney (c) 1995
A lone eagle circles above a canyon river in a hot summer sky. His powerful wings catch the shimmering heat waves surfing him higher into cooler air while from a nest high on the side of the canyon wall his mate nestles protectively on two eggs tucked beneath her feathers. She watches the male's glorious flight as he navigates between the canyon walls guarding against intruders.
Suddenly the eagle hears a sound behind him. Screeching a warning, he skews about, talons ready to slash the unwise invader. However, the trespasser is not an enemy bird but a small aircraft. The sun glints off a metallic object thrust through the plane's open door, its engine drowning out the rifle's blast.
The mortally wounded eagle's crash onto the canyon floor is beheld by two startled jack rabbits as the plane's passengers boisterously congratulate the shooter before disappearing into the horizon.
Soft breezes prod the golden feathers as if urging the eagle to flight. Soon the pale pinions cease fluttering as the wind reluctantly concedes to death.
Remaining on her nest as twilight edges the afternoon aside, the female awaits the return of the male to take his turn on the nest freeing her to hunt out a meal in the rocky hideaways of the canyon. In spite of her growing hunger, she puts off leaving the nest, for without her warmth the eggs will cool causing their tiny inhabitants to perish. But as sunlight vanishes and the soft breeze of day becomes night's cold wind, hunger finally drives the female from the nest. Slowly her body's warmth seeps from the eggs.
One single rifle blast has doomed this entire eagle family. The death of the male means the un-hatched eaglets will perish and the female will suffer a slow, torturous death.
Eagles mate for life in a relationship of dependency for survival. Their feathers require constant preening to clean out mites, ticks, and other parasites that quickly exit from killed prey to the eagle's body. But an eagle cannot clean its own head. For that it must rely upon its mate, otherwise parasites will burrow into the eyes and ears of the bird sapping its strength. The weakened bird, unable to hunt food, will die of agonizing starvation.
In many passages the Bible cites the eagle as a picture of God's strength and deliverance. Isaiah 41:31 says that He gives to His children strength as an eagle's in exchange for their weariness and weakness. In Psalm 103:5, He promises to renew our youth as the eagle.
The wonderful strength of eagles is largely dependent upon submission to the faithfulness of their mates. What a picture of reciprocal accountability that must exist among Christians. The emphasis is not on power over one another, but serving as we human "eagles" comb each other for spiritual parasites. Such combing is not about mind control with personal philosophies or i?dotting, t-crossing semantics. It's about correctly and lovingly using the Word of God just as David invites in Psalm 141:5: "Let the righteous smite me in kindness and reprove me; it is oil upon the head; do not let my head refuse it."
Years ago I served on the staff of a local church as drama director. During rehearsals for a production, I learned that one of our actors was involved in sin.
The performance, less than a week away, had demanded hours of hard work from my volunteer cast. Tempted to let the issue slide until after the production, I rationalized that pulling the errant Thespian from the show would punish the others who had worked so hard. And I must admit, I didn't relish the thought of looking foolish to our expectant audience.
This rationalization lasted less than five minutes before Matthew 18:15 "combed" through my mind: "If your brother sins, go and reprove him in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother."
With the performance four days away, I went to the person. "Is it true?" I asked.
My young friend looked long and hard at the floor before a sheepishly, barely audible answer came, "Yes, it's true."
"I am sorry. I had hoped it was not."
"What are you going to do?" she asked.
"Well, I think the question is, what are you going to do? I want to help restore you to fellowship with God. You see, I love you too much to allow you to be part of the company's ministry with this sin in your life. Rather than harm you in such a way, I will call off the performance."
A flood of tears washed over quivering lips. "You would do that for me?" came the incredulous question.
That evening there was repentance and restoration. The show did go on. And never was there a more staunch worker and friend in the many performances that followed.
Confronting a fellow Christian in sin leaves no room for judgmental pride. Indeed, we deal from the terrible awareness of our own vulnerability for sin. We might just as easily be the erring one.
I dislike this ministry more than any other. Why? Because I am all too aware of my imperfections. Still, the good news is that we never hold up our lives as the standard, but God's Word. We all must submit to the combing of scripture. Refusal or resistance always leads to a proliferation of worse sins.
Like the eagles, we Christians are mates for life in the realm of the Church. It's a truth that should make us love more faithfully, and confront more quickly.
The glorious preening of God's holy Word applied by one to another could mean the difference between plummeting to canyon floors of defeat, or soaring triumphantly in the heavenlies.
