Pastoral Ponderings—Wild Turkeys
It may seem strange to think of a sighting of something as ugly as wild turkeys the kind of blessing to get excited about, but I’ve been called wors
e than strange before, and I get it naturally from my mom. During her visit, she’s been eager for any sighting of wildlife other than the typical squirrel, chipmunk or bird, and she’s been disappointed not to have seen any deer yet. But yesterday, I was excited to be able to share a sighting of turkeys wandering across our yard yesterday.
I’ve seen turkeys wandering around a few times each year, and this time with my mom here, I got more curious, so looked up a bit about their roosting habits and more, and found a posting on the yelps and cackles turkeys make in their version of “Good morning” to their turkey families, and realized I’ve heard that a number of times before without even realizing what it was, and in fact heard it again this morning, though without a sighting. Blessings I’ve been missing from just not knowing what to notice!
Isn’t that the way with so many other blessings—we miss so many from just not noticing, or not knowing what to look (or listen) for! In generations past, it was pretty common for people in their ordinary conversations to share about God’s blessings around us, but as our society has become more secularized, that kind of language has fallen into disuse, with the consequent loss of our being as aware of, or of noticing God’s blessings in our ordinary lives.
Jesus often used the phrase “he who has eyes, let them see,” or likewise, “he who has ears, them them hear.” Maybe we’re not the only ones who have a hard time noticing what God is up to around us! I challenge you to keep your eyes open—learn the signs of how to see or hear God’s blessings, as I’m learning more about recognizing the presence of wild turkeys around me, to be able to be more aware of how God is at work today, even in our ordinary lives—might even make for some good “God sightings” to share!
Keep your eyes peeled or you might not see it! Pastor Jim