This morning on my walk, as I neared home, there were some
deer very close to me. One turned and
ran quickly into the thicket. A second
one stared at me for quite some time, not taking her eyes off of me for a
second, and her perked ears moving only once. While in this stare-down with Deer #2, a
third deer came onto the scene. This one
turned straight toward me and also began the stare-down. But this one, stamped its front hoof as well –
several times. I was gently asking what
he wanted, because I really don’t speak “deer.”
He kept doing this several times, and it made me wonder about the
communication we all attempt and how much is missed in the understanding. I am sure that this deer had a clear goal to make
sure I knew he meant business (they were quite forceful stomps!). But I don’t know if it meant “go away” or if
it meant “are you safe?” These are
certainly very different things. What I
do know, however, is that God takes care of the deer that roam in the fields
behind my house as well as the beautiful birds that visited my feeder this
morning. They don’t fret, they don’t
worry because they know they will have what they need. Psalm 104 says:
How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is
full of
your creatures…these all look to you to give them their food at the proper
time. When you give it to them, they gather it up;
when you open your hand, they
are satisfied with good things (vs. 24,
27-28).
Oh I have so much to learn from God’s creatures! And even if I don't speak, "deer" they certainly have spoken to me today.
