Mama Bird

I'll get to some of the previous thoughts I mentioned the other day later, for now I wanted to share with you a thought I had on my run today. I got a little ways out of town and was passing through scenery that appeared to come straight out of a Roy Rogers cowboy movie. After a little while I noticed a little black bird chasing ahead of me. It reminded me of some runs and drives while in Nome as a mama or papa ptarmigan chased ahead to try and steer us away from their nest. They were sacrificing themselves for the sake of their young.

In the movie "The Passion of Christ" that stirred up so much this past spring there was a scene where a buzzard plucks they eye out of one of the criminals on the cross. It seemed unnecessary to me at the time, but was it not trying to communicate the same thing as the ptarmigans in Nome? In essence Jesus died on the cross to attract the devil, evil His way so that we, God's precious children, would be protected. He was sacrificing himself for the sake of us. What an amazing gift..."a free gift, with no strings attached." (To quote a famous story)