Sandgrouse (Pterocles namaqua) ~ The Providing Father



The life of a Sandgrouse is lived in storms.  Their habitat is a sea of sand, burning and corrosive.  There is no shelter from the heat or from the deadly sandstorms that rip across the landscape.  The ruddy deserts of Africa are barren a landscape as you can imagine.  Yet the sandgrouse is perfectly at home here.  They scour the desolate plains to find seeds deposited in the sand months or years ago by plants; seeds carried in storms.  After a brief rain falls, they fly as far as 50 miles to find a puddle.  These conditions may sound nearly impossible, yet biologists are fascinated to find that the Sandgrouse not only survives, he thrives.  This bird exhibits many unique features attributing to a lifestyle thriving in storm.  For instance, Sandgrouse chicks must survive the battering heat of day under the shade of their mother.  They have neither the feathers nor the strength needed to fly the 50 miles or so to a watering hole.  So how do they get water?  The male, upon finding such a watering hole, crouches down in the puddle and ruffles his feathers.  Underneath his normal down there are specialized filaments, designed to absorb water like blotting paper!  Once the breast feathers have soaked up the moisture, the male takes off again and finds his nest where the female is waiting with the chicks.  It’s quite heartwarming to watch the male as he returns, for the moment the chicks see him they go rushing out, cheeping happily, and gather around his breast.  They line up and suck the water from the feathers, for all the world looking like puppies or kittens.

How precious that in the storm, we can still pour out praise to our God!  How precious that when calamity comes, when the heat of battle rages, when the drought sets in, the Holy Spirit of God falls on us like rain.  The Bible talks about the rejuvenating power of the Holy Spirit, “whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3v6).  I doubt it is a coincidence that he Holy Spirit is so often compared to water.  Water means life in biology, and the Spirit means life in the soul.  There are times when I reflect on a difficult season of life—a season of sand and burning sun and storm—and remark at how my heart praised God all the more.  Then I remember Who it was that sustained me, Who it was that went the distance, covered the miles I could not, and brought me life.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Guardian Trees ~ When Leaders Fall

Image
I recently received a message from a friend of mine who lives in Oregon. There was no text, only a ten second video panorama of what looked like a war zone. Trees were strewn all over the ground. Splintered wood carpeted the scene. It took me a moment to realize that the recording was taken just outside of their house. I was shocked. After visiting them each year, I’ve come to know their land well. The forest surrounding their home has become like a friend to me. Now it’s an unrecognizable wasteland. I called my friend to make sure she was alright, and she told me the story of what happened. Over the summer, new tenants purchased the adjacent property. They were first-time landowners and did not consult anyone about managing their forest. The couple decided that they wanted more sun, so they hired loggers to come and cut down the trees on their property. Residents in the area (some of whom had been in land management for 40+ years) reached out to the new neighbors and explained that th
Read more

Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus) ~ Why Should I give Christianity another chance?

Image
            The loudest animal on our planet is also our largest toothed predator:  Physeter macrocephalus,  the sperm whale. People are surprised to hear that sperm whales make the loudest vocalizations, perhaps because we imagine them as serene and calm—the silent beasts of the deep. In his book  Deep,  explorer and author James Nestor describes an account when biologists were diving with these animals (diving with whales the best way to study their behavior). One whale swam directly at one of the researchers. Startled, the man held up his arm to try and stop the whale. In response, the whale let out a small grunt and swam past the man. This grunt was enough to freeze the man’s arm in place for three hours. The voice of a sperm whale can literally vibrate a human body to death. We now know that sperm whales disorient and may even stun their prey with loud sound bursts called ‘gunshots’. It’s the rarest of all sperm whale vocalizations. But the true reason these whales have such a pow
Read more

Saharan Silver Ant (Cataglyphis bombycina) ~ Surviving Persecution by Reflecting God's Light

Image
In the Sahara, the sun rules all.  No creature can survive its full heat, which averages 104ºF.  Yet the unlikeliest of creatures, an ant, has a trick up its sleeve.  The Saharan Silver ant is the only animal in this ecosystem capable of withstanding the heat of day at high noon.  Their peculiar armor, much like a space suit, is the cause.  These ants are silver-colored, and their dainty panoply of mirrors reflects sunlight.  Thus when their last predators hide away in the ground to hide from the extreme heat, the Saharan Silver ants scurry out to gather their daily food.  Their shimmering bodies have only minutes before the sun burns through them.  They march out quickly, locating food and working together to bring it back to the nest.  After 10 minutes, the last ants are either back in their burrow or crippled by heatstroke. 
The Saharan Silver Ant is a remarkable creature.  When I ponder these brave little animals, whose every moment seems to be a struggle
Read more