We were sitting in our kitchen watching American Goldfinches as they fatten up on seed. Mixed in are some sparrows, dove, and a yellow-throated warbler who has lived here all winter. A lone squirrel was foraging about. It was a peaceful mid-February scene.
Suddenly pandemonium broke loose! An unidentified, but hungry hawk, roared into that scene of tranquility and sent birds and squirrel scrambling for their lives. He zeroed in on a single bird. The two made a complete circle of the back yard, through tree limbs, plants or whatever. It was an amazing, two-second aerial dogfight. We don't know who won. The battle moved outside our fence.
It was a harsh reminder of the balance of life God has created. Hawks keep us from being over-run by birds, mice, snakes, and other critters. They kill, not for sport, but for food. There are few scraps left after one makes a kill. What is left is then food for cats, buzzards, and even ants. The only inedible is feathers.
As I look to the front yard and four sacks of refuse waiting for the garbage men I wish that we might learn from the hawk, and others of God's creative hand, as they eat well without making mounds of garbage. You know Jesus said, "Look to the birds...". Maybe that is one of the things we might learn from our feathered friends.
