When Creation Preaches

When Creation Preaches.m4a

Sheila P Spencer

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.”— Job 12:7-10

Creation will preach to us if we are paying attention

Last Sunday, as I was driving to church, I turned at the light and stopped. In fact, all of the traffic stopped even though the light was green. Do you know why we stopped?

A family of geese was crossing the street: one parent was in the front, followed by several baby geese, and the other parent was walking behind.

No fear or hesitation. As soon as they stepped into the crosswalk, everything came to a halt.

As I watched, I said aloud, “May I have the faith of these geese who cross the street with no fear, especially the baby geese who know that they are covered on all sides.”

I received a message from God through a family of geese crossing the street right in front of my car. The baby geese walked boldly into the middle of traffic with no fear at all. Why? Because one parent was leading in the front and another was covering from behind.

And what amazed me was this: traffic came to a complete standstill to let them pass.

Those baby geese were not calculating traffic patterns.

They were not frozen by fear.

They simply trusted the covering around them.

The geese preached...

And then, of course, I went down the rabbit hole to learn more about geese. The ones in my housing community can be a little gangsta, but anyway... A goose symbolizes community, loyalty, teamwork, and spiritual vigilance.

Teamwork / Sharing the Load Geese fly in a V formation that shows teamwork and sharing the load. They have faith in each other. When one goose flaps its wings, it creates a little lift in the air that helps the goose behind it fly more easily. This means they don’t get tired as fast because they are helping each other.

Encouragement When geese honk while flying, it is believed to be a way of encouraging those in the front to keep up the pace. They also honk when danger or change arrives. In the same way, the Holy Spirit acts as a spiritual alarm system

Looking Out for the Weak If a goose gets sick or wounded, others leave the formation to stay and protect it until it recovers or passes away.

Navigation and Destiny As migratory birds, geese symbolize internal guidance, travel, and knowing when it is time to move on to a new phase of life.

Sacred Goose Chase Celtic culture compares the goose with the Holy Spirit. For our culture, “wild goose chase” means a hopeless, foolish pursuit of something you will never catch.

But in the Celtic context, a sacred goose chase means following the Spirit into uncharted territory, trusting the leader of the formation to get you where you need to go.

The geese preach to us.

Thank you for the sermons that the geese preach, that faith to boldly cross spaces without fear of harm. May we learn their lessons as we interact with each other as a family: teamwork, sharing the load with each other, encouraging one another, and looking out for those who are vulnerable.

May we let You be our compass and guide. May we know that life in the Holy Spirit is a life of faith and moving in Your direction.