Guardians of the Geese
When I drive to the church office each morning, I like to take the shortcut from Mechanicsburg Road to Old Lincoln Way. I don’t know that I save all that much time by turning onto Venture Boulevard, but I enjoy watching the geese that gather near the Aspen Racquet Club, especially this time of year when the adorable baby goslings make their way from one side of the road to the other. What really intrigues me is the way the older geese guide and guard the young ones to safety. Usually, one of the adults is at the front of the line while the other is near the back, ensuring that no harm comes to little ones.
Crossing the road with six or eight goslings can be dangerous, but my guess is that the older geese would lay down their lives to save the lives of the younger ones, just as the Lord laid down his life for us so that we could live eternally in the Father’s Kingdom.
This calls to mind Psalm 91 (9-11), which states, “If you say, ‘The Lord is my refuge,’ and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.”
This passage is difficult to fully understand because, although we trust God implicitly, we know that occasional harm and even disaster intersects our lives, and yet we know that God is always with us, commanding his angels to “guard [us] in all [our] ways.”
That reassurance is good enough for me — that in joyful times and troubling times, He is always by our side, illuminating our path and protecting us on our passage — just like the geese on Venture Boulevard.