True Colors

Now the Lord had said to Abram:

“Get out of your country,

From your family

And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you."—Genesis 12:1

I couldn’t quite put a finger on it.  Why the tightness in my throat? I felt like I was on the verge of tears.   My steps were heavy as I crunched the gravel on the farm road.  A walk should do me good. But it didn’t seem like it was working.

Winter is on its way, I thought, noticing the migrant Canada geese gliding along the placid pond.  I pulled my jacket a little tighter and returned my gaze to my feet, watching every step, being ever so careful to avoid holes and obstacles that could cause a slip—and a fall.  Dry, coffee-colored leaves lined the lane and crackled beneath my feet.

Naked and Afraid

Disclaimer: The following reference to Discovery Channel’s TV series “Naked and Afraid” in no way  indicates my endorsement of the program but is used for comparison purposes only.

"Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed."—1 Peter 4:12-13

Remember the peacock from my previous post…standing in front of the glass door, gazing at his reflection, his beautiful four-foot-long plumage gone.  Does he feel naked without that gorgeous train that was once a part of him—his identity even?  I mean, what’s a peacock without a fan of blue-green feathers, each marked with that distinguishing feature, the all-too-familiar eye.  Without it, does he feel afraid—naked and afraid?

The truth is that all mature peacocks shed their tail feathers every year in late summer.  The shedding process is called molting.  If it happens every year, then the peacock shouldn’t be surprised, right?  Doesn’t he know this isn’t something strange happening to him—that his feathers will grow again and he will be beautiful in time?

Proud as a Peacock

“For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”—Luke 14:11

There he was staring at his reflection in the glass door of the stripping house, a barn attachment once used for stripping tobacco.  But the irony in the picture was that the peacock had been stripped of his tail feathers…well, he had shed them. 

I had seen him in early summer admiring his reflection in the shine of the car door and had to admit he was stunning, his train of brilliant tail feathers extending four feet or more.  On a different occasion I had watched him shake his tail feathers and then fan them out in a beautiful array of blues and greens, turning around like a supermodel at the end of a runway.  Scientists say this is the peacock’s mating strut, designed to attract the peahen.  But I say he was just showing off for me, for there was not a peahen in sight. Hence, the origin of the saying proud as a peacock?