Of Eagles and Songs

Twice last week I heard this illustration of how a long term eagle will grow its beak till it is too long, and ends up hurting itself. And its talons get too blunt for catching its prey. And the feathers get worn out. so the eagle decides to go up this high place, and break its own beak; get rid of all its talons; and pluck out its feathers so that new ones will grow. ~ Grampz

I got this comment from PhD on my recent post. A worn out eagle with a beak too long that it is hurting itself! I think God has already shown me that long beak at church on Sunday. It is something I need to remove. I do not think that the eagle can break the beak on its own… it needs to break it against an object that is much stronger and solid, maybe a rock on a mountain slope. I need God to be that rock…

I can’t help but feel that God is using the circumstances around me to remove pride in me… again. It’s part of discarding the pieces. It’s part of removing the beak so that a new one can grow. It doesn’t feel good, of course. I felt the force of it in little things recently. Again, it was just the little things that I would have shrugged off, but I became overly sensitive to these things. What can I say? Thank You Lord… It feels terrible, but thank You… I know it was out of love… and I love You too!

In the midst of my current reflections, God has been continuously showing me the needs of others. Friends are going through all sorts of problems and discouragements. Some are getting sick. In the meantime, America has been devastated by one of the worst natural disasters to have hit it as hurricane Katrina swept through New Orleans. Does He have something to say to me through all these?

I remembered asking what my focus was recently… and maybe… God seems to be telling me again – people. Have I lost that focus? After this short ‘Sabbath’ week for me, I feel refreshed. I think I’m finally ready to carry on. Gone are the feelings of tiredness and weariness, of discouragement and hurt. I’ve found that rest in God. And it’s beautiful…

He’s not done removing the long beak, and it is going to take awhile. It will take awhile for new feathers to replace old ones. What pieces do I bring with me? A Franciscan monk once said, “A monk should own nothing but his own harp”; G. K. Chesterton adds, “meaning, I suppose, that he should value nothing but his song, the song with which it was his business as a minstrel to serenade every castle and cottage, the song of the joy of the Creator in his creation and the beauty of the brotherhood of men.” What is my song? Yes, I will carry only that song with me, the song that has been given me by God to serenade the hearts of men and God Himself; a song that sings of our wonderful Creator; one that brings glory only to Him. This is the song of my life, in all its beauty and imagination, weakness and shame.