God, a Grouse, and Grace

April 6, 2009

Last weekend while D and I were driving through the country we stopped to stretch and watch some sheep grazing in an open field near a vineyard when I noticed an odd little encounter going on between one of the smallest lambs and a bird. The bird would take a few steps with the lamb close behind and then spin around and facing the lamb, she’d ruffle up one of her wings and make a series of loud chirps and then hobble off in another direction before turning around to go through the whole process again. For the most part the woolly guy was oblivious to what was going on, more interested in the fresh bits of grass than in the bird but it was clear the bird had an agenda and vested interest in the moment. Like the lamb, I was clueless what it was but fortunately for me I have a smart wife nearby and at the ready to fill in the blank spaces that often inhabit my brain.

D explained that the bird was a grouse and somewhere in the open field buried in a earth-bound hole she had concealed from view was her nest. Whenever the grouse suspects  a threat is approaching the nest she’ll put herself in harm’s way to protect her little ones by attempting to draw the supposed predator away from the nest by feigning a broken wing, offering herself instead as a potential easy-to-catch tasty meal. D and I watched for several minutes as this little dance between the lamb and bird played out and it was only when the lamb wandered back down the hill that the grouse lowered her wing, quieted down and returned to sentry duty, walking back and forth in the general area of where her babies were huddled under the cover of a little loose grass and broken twigs. I found the whole interplay between lamb, mother grouse and her babies to be so compelling that it stayed with me miles down the road.

And what I’d seen was still with me last Friday when I stopped by our church in the middle of the day to do some advanced set up for an Easter Cookie Decorating Play Day I was hosting for the church kids the next day. This is when I saw this tent structure for the first time that had been constructed over the communion table for the Easter season. On any given Sunday I love our worship space with the embedded cross design in the wall, the flow of gentle colors, the sunlight that streams in through the stained glass, the cross bearing the empty space of Jesus’ silhouette, the candles, the bell chime that invites us into silence, and always, the communion table in the center of the room and our hearts, but the addition of the tent had me in awe and I did the only thing I knew to do. I went up to the empty space in front of the table and laid down on the floor with my face looking toward the billowing fabric swatches stretched from corner to corner. And in that moment I thought of the baby grouse birds, their little eyes looking upward through the loosely covered hole knowing that their mom was just outside the nest watching over them and doing whatever it took to save them from danger even if it came at the cost of her very life.

And then, still laying there in the quiet expectancy of a church sanctuary on a Friday afternoon, I thought of Easter and of Christ and of the cross and began to quietly sing a worship song taken from Psalm 91.

She who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,

nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.

If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-

then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.

“Because she loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue her;
I will protect her, for she acknowledges my name.

She will call upon me, and I will answer her;
I will be with her in trouble,
I will deliver her and honor her.

With long life will I satisfy her
and show her my salvation.”

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Posted in SnapShot Reflections