Ken’s e-Pistle

February 14, 2024

My family and I had a good time away.  The trip to Disney World went pretty much as expected but my niece had a marvelous time.  I must admit that awakening in the morning to see giraffes and other assorted fauna outside my balcony was a new and interesting experience.  Nothing like sharing your coffee with an on-looking wildebeest.

I couldn’t help but remember the story of Noah as I pondered the menagerie before me.  They were descendants of those who were either passengers on the ark or exceptional swimmers. (Yes, the theological mind is hard to turn off, even on vacation!) By coincidence, our first Old Testament lesson in Lent will feature Noah and God’s promise never to destroy the world by flood again.  Driving in to work on Monday, I was hoping that God would remember that promise as I came over the mountains and saw the swollen creeks and rivers moving out of their banks and hovering just a few feet underneath the bridges. “Pray for rainbows,” I told myself.

Being a bit of a weather nerd, I love the sight of a rainbow.  I know the scientific explanation about the refraction of light in the raindrops but that doesn’t diminish my love of them.  God is a great lover of serendipity and whimsey in my book.

On our return from Disney World I came to appreciate our local fauna a bit more.  We have several families of deer who are beginning to emerge from the deep woods now that deer season is over.  A few otters are playing in our ponds, catching the fish that I would have liked to have caught in a month or so.  Still, their antics are worth the cost of a few fish. The birds are plentiful and hungry, going through about five pounds of seed a week.  Come late spring we will withdraw our largess so that they may remember what it is to be self-sufficient.

Sometimes it takes going away to make you appreciate what God has given you in your own back yard.

I bid you peace!