Flight Fare

I don't always have my camera along at our riverfront--and it's the "no camera" times when geese fly close enough for what would have been a great photo. Look close--a few are in the midst of changing the lead position.
Honk, honk, honk…before I even saw them, I knew that Canadian geese were headed my way. I scanned the sky and spotted their traditional V-formation, one of those marvels of nature. Flying in a “V,” with each bird slightly higher than the bird in front of it, is aerodynamic and energy efficient. Because this configuration helps the birds act as windbreakers and reduce drag, they have a 71% greater flying range than if they flew alone.

I also watched them take turns leading, falling back as they tired. I’ve learned that they travel 40 miles an hour (70 mph in a good wind) and can go 1,500 miles in 24 hours with ideal weather conditions. Whew! Just driving four hours wears me out, and I’m sitting!Then there’s the constant honking, like irate taxi drivers in the middle of a big city traffic tie-up. Even this has a purpose: to encourage each other to keep up the speed. Could geese (despite their habit of fouling lawns and beaches) teach us a thing or two? Maybe, that…

*God designed us for community. Sharing a common direction helps us progress in life. Loners have a hard time of it: “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers, they succeed” (Proverbs 15:22). Community is better: “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24).

*We can’t do it all, all the time. Even Moses, to whom God accorded extra responsibility, realized his physical limits. When the newly-freed Hebrews battled the Amalekites, things went well as long as Moses stood on top of the hill holding up his staff. But when the eighty-year-old wearied and drooped, Aaron and Hur helped hold up his hands until victory came (see Exodus 17:8-16).

*Cheerleading is a group activity. In our fallen world, there are “takers” (people who drain us with their constant neediness) as well as “givers.” Proverbs 12:25 addresses all of us: “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.” It’s not just the idea of “buck up and keep going.” We need to remind each other of our spiritual calling: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).

One more goose truth. Sometimes a goose gets sick, wounded, or shot down. It’s not left alone. Two drop out of the formation and follow it down to help it. They stay until it can fly again, or dies. Lessons here: problems that disable us from forward progress become the problems of a few who must care for us. They must give up or put on hold their original plans for living out God’s will in order to “encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone” (1 Thessalonians 5:14).

Next time you hear honking geese, flying in formation, remember more than their amazing survival habits. Thank the God of creation, even of geese, for how He cares for you.