BK's Korner, 8/26/2024

BK’S KORNER

There was this one gravel road that led from my grandparent’s house out onto the 100 acres of oil lease that we would roam. Whenever we kids would head out on one of our adventures this was the road that we always took as we left the house. Keep in mind a gravel road has two parts that are hard packed from the tires of the vehicles rolling on it.  In the middles of those tracks however is looser gravel that piles up just slightly. There was one spot on this road in the middle where the loose gravel was that something happened every year.  A killdeer would scratch out a nest and lay her eggs in that gravel.

If you didn’t know, you can certainly surmise by the context that a killdeer is a bird.   We pronounced it “killdee” instead of the proper “killdeer”.  Every year. She showed up. When we walked down the road and she was running around screaming at us, we knew to look for a nest because it would be there.  We never touched the eggs.  We believed that if we touched the eggs she wouldn’t come back to them. I have no idea if this is true or not, or where we heard that, but we believed it. 

It seems like we would see her and the eggs only for a short while and then she and they would be gone.  I always wondered about her and those eggs?  Why would she build a nest on the ground in the middle of the road? Why would she and the eggs disappear just as suddenly as she appeared? What happened to the eggs? We never saw any chicks. It was always a great mystery to me. One that I didn’t understand.

I googled it and did find some satisfaction. Killdeers seem to be comfortable around people. Laying eggs in gravel is very common for a killdeer. Her eggs only lay for about a month. As soon as the chicks hatch, they get up and mom leads them off to teach them to forage for food. 

This mystery reminds me of the Parable of the Growing Seed taught by Jesus in Mark 4:26-29. The parable teaches us that God’s working is like a farmer planting a seed. He goes to sleep and seed begins to grow.  Yet the gardener really doesn’t see what is happening to the seed underground. He really doesn’t how it begins to grow. All he knows is that eventually he can see the sprout. Soon he sees the full plant with its full head of grain. 

God’s Kingdom and God’s work are really a great mystery. There is so much that he does that we do not even see. We only see the results. This is why must live by faith.  We cannot see everything that is happening. The life of a “killdee” still represents a mystery to me to this very day.  So do the works and ways of God. I just have to trust Him. Pray to Him. Believe in Him. He knows what He’s doing and why He’s doing it.

Pray for our church. Our community. Your One. 

Love and Blessings.

BK ><>