Tag Archives: James 4:13-15

Nail-punctured Tire Leads to Red-bellied Woodpecker

by

4

Nail-punctured  Tire  Leads  to  Red-bellied  Woodpecker

Dr. James J. S. Johnson

 Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain.  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time, and then it vanishes away.  For that ye ought to say, ‘If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that’.   (James 4:13-15)

Red-bellied-Woodpecker.KenThomas-Wikipedia

RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER photo credit: Ken Thomas / Wikipedia

How was seeing a Red-bellied Woodpecker, on July the 5th, the direct result discovering a punctured car tire on July the 4th? And how was this series of related events an illustration of James 4:13-15?

On the 4th of July we planned a multi-generational (i.e., 4 generations!) family get-together, to share a meal and a relaxing visit, but en route I discovered a silver screw-nail pressed into the front right tire of our van.  Surprise! – surprises like that can interrupt your “flight plan”, so a “Plan B” becomes necessary.

Although our arrival was a bit delayed, it all worked out, without too much trouble, by using a different car, but on July 5th about a half-day was spent with me at the tire repair place  —  but I used the wait-time wisely, reading about lobster ecdysis (i.e., shell-shedding, a/k/a molting) and other such fascinating activities of coastal crustaceans!

Yet should I have been totally surprised?  As James 4:13-15, quoted above, indicates, we should never be shocked when our Plan A must be replaced by a Plan B.  In the end, because we belong to our Lord Jesus Christ, it all works out for good (Romans 8:28).

A NAIL, A TIRE, AND INTERRUPTED PLANS

Silver gleamed from a tire of our van;

A road trip stopped ere it began:

A nail caused air to leak,

Making our van’s tire weak,

Quickly changing my day’s checklist plan.

On the brighter side, on the 5th of July, in a grassy are (with a few small trees) by the tire repair center, I saw (and watched with admiration for God’s detailed bioengineering handiwork) a Red-bellied Woodpecker — that’s a bird I don’t often get to see.

RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER photo credit: Helena Reynolds / Audubon Field Guide

Each day has its little treasures, if we have eyes to see them.  (And some days have much bigger treasures, such as when a grandchild demonstrated a sincere reverence for God and His Word!)

 

 

BIRDWATCHING AT COX ARBORETUM (IN OHIO)

by

6

Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even Thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God.  (Psalm 84:3)

Northern-Cardinal.MotherNatureNetwork

NORTHERN CARDINAL   (Mother Nature Network)

Dr. James J. S. Johnson

BIRDWATCHING AT THE ARBORETUM, AS THE HOURS HURRIED BY

Bright red, flies by, a cardinal male,

As down, we trek, a nature trail;

Here it’s wide, there it’s narrow;

Perched nearby, a chipping sparrow;

(How quickly told is our tale.)

Chipping-Sparrow.AudubonSociety

CHIPPING SPARROW   (Audubon Field Guide)

One of Shakespeare’s plays, MACBETH, includes a cynical comment that compares the transitory experience of human mortality to a fleeting “hour upon the stage”, like a “tale” that is “told” with “sound and fury”, yet “signifying nothing” (MACBETH, Act 5, Scene 5).  It is true that this earthly lifetime is transitory and fleeting (James 4:13-15), yet this earthly life is the opposite of meaningless — unless we foolishly ignore our Maker (Ecclesiastes 12:1).  And our Maker cares so much for us — much more than He cares for little birds, like sparrows (Matthew 10:29-31),  — so much that He has provided a free redemption and abundant life in Christ, available to all who believingly receive Him as personal Savior (John 1:12 & 3:16 & 14:6).  And, thankfully, belonging to Him lasts forever!

English-Sparrow.AllAboutBirds

ENGLISH SPARROW   ( allaboutbirds.org  )

Time flies.  Time zooms by even moreso when one is experiencing a wonderful blessing, as the above limerick briefly notes in fly-by fashion.  Such a time was last Thursday (June 29th AD2017), when I was birdwatching (and butterfly-watching) with my youngest grandson, Hunter, at the Cox Arboretum in Dayton, Ohio.  At the Arboretum we saw various birds (including English Sparrow [a/k/a “House Sparrow”], American Goldfinch, Canada Goose, Mallard, Robin, Northern Cardinal, and Chipping Sparrow), butterflies (including Cabbage White, Pipevine Swallowtail, Black Swallowtail, Spicebush Swallowtail, and Orange Sulphur), other insects (bumblebees, ants, dragonflies, etc.), pond-dwelling fish, slow-moving turtles, and scampering chipmunks.  For me, the Chipping Sparrow was a special highlight — it is a summer breeder during its migrant months in Ohio.  (Hunter accurately described the Chipping Sparrow, who helpfully posed for our observations, as looking like an English Sparrow except “his head has red on it” and “there’s some white by his eyes”.)  Hunter had a one-word comment on the American Goldfinch:  WOW!

The hours of hiking went all too quickly.  It was a precious time for Farfar (Norwegian for “father’s father”) to teach a grandson something of the wonders of God’s creation, and something about the wonderfulness of God Himself.  Thankfully, neither of us fell into any of the ponds — although some inspections of turtles or fish came close to a splashing scenario.  It was a good day — albeit one that hurried by all too quickly.

American-Goldfinch.Fredric-D-Nisenholz-BirdsandBlooms

AMERICAN GOLDFINCH   (Fredric Nisenholz / Birds and Blooms )