Silly Goose

Silly Goose

Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves.

Romans 12:3

No Christian is a misfit. We all have one or more gifts to complement the functions of our local Christian community. When we identify and practice our gifts, we have the deep satisfaction of seeing God our Father using us as he planned, and we become aware of miracles happening around and through us. That does not allow us to crow with a sense of superiority, but it does illustrate that God’s ways are higher than our ways and that he longs for us to walk in his highway.

For example, we have a gaggle of noisy geese that parade around the farmyard, every now and then setting off in a screeching run/fly at some imagined threat. They are at their most peaceful in the duck pond.

Some of our neighbors asked us to take their home-reared goose to give it a chance to live in harmony with its fellows and enjoy swimming in the pond. When Flower arrived, though, it quickly became clear that she did not see herself as a goose at all and that she longed to return to living in a house with loving children. She stood to one side of the flock and honked loudly for the humans she loved.

She seemed to say, “What am I doing in the company of these uncouth birds? I’m superior.”

When a person appeared, Flower rushed up and demanded their undivided attention. I think she saw herself as a human too. In the end, her former owners took her back into their home and the family circle she loved. We hope she will live there happily ever after. Now, if only she could lay golden eggs . . .

—John McCutcheon

Father, thank you that you have a divine purpose for me and have given me the ability to live it out. Help me today to hear your voice and to do your will so that your glorious purposes will be fulfilled in and through me. Amen.