A Church leader from India wrote asking if I had an item on Geese. I don't have a poem on Geese yet, but here are some lessons I learned from reading about them.
This link from the U.S. Library of Congress is short & to the point:
http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/geese.html- Saves energy = Let the Lord save you: don't do it alone. Serving together saves strength.
- They take turns in the lead = Let the Lord lead by not trying to always be the leader. Take turns following to travel further.
- Helps keep the members together & in full number = Let the Lord save all of you, not just a few. If all serve, all are served.
- They can travel longer = Let the Lord take you all the way! If you love the Lord, you will love one another and thus your own life will be loved.
- Apparently the Air Force learned from them.
- At one time, football teams used this V formation ... which was virtually unstoppable. But then the rules of the game were changed & V formations were banned. Now football teams use the Greek pattern of the hoplite phalanx initially. There is a reason why, in the real world people emerge to lead teams work together to spearhead into their competitor's area though. (The quarterback was not the guy at the front & no-one person could be the lead guy in the V formation in football either all season long, unless he was very big.)
== Other relevant links & lessons. ==
A Bird Watcher discusses why birds fly _where_ they fly:
http://www.birdnature.com/flyways.html"Mississippi Flyway:" [The one geese follow typically.]
- They seem to follow geographical features = The Lord has already prepared the path.
- This helps them stay on course = Stick with the path.
- This can also help them get to food-water/shelter in time = if you follow the Lord, He will feed you.
From the National Park Service on migrations in general:
http://www.nps.gov/akso/ParkWise/Students/ReferenceLibrary/general/MigrationBasics.htm- Some geese from this area [Michigan] go south to the delta area bordering the Mississippi [near where I used to live], I believe.
Here are leadership lessons from the patterns/reasons for migration:
- Seasonal: Go where the harvest is ripe if needed, but always preach the gospel.
- Latitudinal migration: If God calls you to move to survive, move.
- Altitudinal migration: If the Lord has prepared greener pastures prepared elsewhere, go ... & lead the flock with you.
- Reproductive migration: Provide the young to a safe place during vulnerable points if needed. Don't let faith falter because you send your kids/converts out to the wolves when they are weak.
- Nomadic migration: God is the guide of those "strange" saints who seem to wander, but remain faithful to His Son.
- Removal migration: This is a last resort! Notice that the types above are routine, like a circuit preacher or camp meetings. This is when the ground is hard & like the fall of Jerusalem. Sometimes it does come to this. My own forebears came to the USA in a pattern like this when persecuted in Europe.
- Complete migration/Partial migration/Irruptive migration: Distance is not the determining factor in the final analysis. Follow the Lord's leading as He provides. NOT what all the other kinds of folks are doing.
<+>< BONUS!! ><+> (A lesson on Holiness)
A look at different domestic breeds:
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/poultry/geese/Summary: The most beautiful breed in its feathers is the most fiesty & the most free but not a big feast. The biggest breeds are best in the belly. The whitest breeds are smallest but form the largest flocks.
Lesson: Looking pretty doesn't equal peace. Butchers like big bellies. If you don't want to be fresh meat: Live lean, live in love, & live in the light.
contemplative
