Clark's Nutcracker and My Spiritual Survival

Psalm 119:11I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Jeremiah 15:16When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty.
Luke 6:45The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

The Clark's Nutcracker is a member of the crow and jay family. This species ranges throughout the Pacific Northwest south and eastward along the Rocky Mountains. The Clark's Nutcracker is named after Willard Clark from The Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Clarks Nutcracker’s love pine nuts that produce a great source of energy for them.
They store the nuts everywhere including the ground where they may sprout and produce more pine trees if forgotten. Nutcrackers have been known to find 75% of there cache which means some 25% do turn back into trees which provide even more food in the future for the nutcracker and help the trees to produce more of its kind.
Nutcrackers have an amazing ability to find these caches and can even remember where they are hidden under lots of snow. They have a greater percentage in finding their caches than squirrels. Some researchers think they can actually have a greater percentage of finding these caches but the extra “forgotten” storage sites are actually there in case of a harsher winter. So next time they call you a Bird Brain say, “Thanks.”

In our Christian journey the Bible is our spiritual food. Nourishing and sustaining us through troubled times. I hope I have hidden his word in my heart to find it later in times of trouble or spiritual hunger. I need it to survive. Hopefully some of the word is planted and others receive the fruit of it. Perhaps later on my walk with God I will be giving back the word by some cache I buried a long time ago in another travelers soul. We can all learn from our new Brothers and Sisters in Christ along the way. I know The Word buried deep in our hearts can be brought up in a time of trouble to nourish and sustain and even comfort us.

Go North and Find Joy.

Luke 11:9 - And I tell you, Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Its cold today…. Finally! I love the cold it always feels fresher and clearer in the city. Some of my favorite birds start coming down when it’s cold. Juncos, Lapland Longspurs, Snow Buntings, Saw-Whet Owls, Snowy Owls, and many other Owls are a possibility. The migration of arctic birds, like an occasional Gyrfalcon make me all warm inside.

Last winter brought with it an abundance of Great Gray and Hawk Owls that was unprecedented in Migratory history. The rodent population plummeted up north and they came rushing down. My friends and I went to Sault Ste Marie in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to see a few and we had a blast doing it. I am hoping they have a few more voles this year but I also hope a few Owls and Gyrfalcons still come down for my enjoyment. Sometimes you have to go where it’s cold to find what you are looking for. Your toes may be frozen and your face chapped but if its what you’re looking for, hey that’s worth it.

In my relationship with Christ it can get cold sometimes and the landscape seems bare. In those hardest of times when I can’t feel my soul and my heart seems numb I sit waiting for God. I hear myself saying lets move a little north….WHAT! It’s even more barren and cold there. Yah, but it’s someone else’s environment, its not your own. Their land is colder, more barren than your own. So move on over and see what you can see. Then it hits you, you see it, a smile. In the coldest, barren, darkest place there is life. An amazing thing you have never seen before. A person cast aside, sitting in a worst place than you. Smiling just because you moved over to them and forgot about your frozen toes for a minute.
The Great Gray Owl brought a smile to my face that day up in Michigan. I had a smile brought to my face in the wilderness of my own soul too. By seeing something awesome and beautiful a little north of where I was, enjoying the snow with the least of these.
Matthew 23:12 - whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Matthew 11:29 - Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Light from the Least of Creatures

Luke 8:17 - For nothing is hid that shall not be made manifest, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come to light.
Being on vacation is always a great time to explore and bird watch for me. I finally get out of the city and get a little quite and seclusion. On this particular Vacation day I had no idea that God was planning on showing me. He of course used the oddest of creatures to do it, a creature that is usually frowned upon. Some are amazed by how large it is but are put off by its “acts”. I of course am speaking of the Turkey Vulture.
Turkey Vultures let you know about death, they help you pinpoint it from a distance. You may not see it but you know its there. How? Because when you look above the horizon about 20 Vultures are circling overhead and you know something has bit the dust. Vultures have a great sense of smell and can find the dead hidden under the trees. Then the Turkey Vultures clean up the dead from our landscapes.
I started thinking about scripture "No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a vessel, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hid that shall not be made manifest, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come to light.” Luke 11: 16-17
Eventually your sin finds you. The stench of your sin and your consequences find you. Sin leads to death and Vultures can actually represent light. You can see the darkness and death of a person’s Spirit when the light of scripture is showing upon it. We are then exposed, our most ugly choices, our rotten carcasses exposed for all to see. We all saw it from a distance the Vultures were circling. Now that it is exposed we must confess, not only to Christ but our Brothers and Sisters. To stand naked before God and man shows in us the darkness the blood and guts of the horror that sin leads us down. It is a battle, one we must face before God and ourselves and our congregations. It is the only way to freedom. We then can clean up our landscape for a fruitful future in bringing forth the good news of Christ. Honesty prevails and respect is giving to the gospel when it is brought on the feet of light. I hope all know your secrets because the Vultures someday will start circling. Marty