Heads Up
The mass of bodies looks almost like a large boulder sitting in the midst of
the white Antarctic landscape, but as the camera moves in it becomes obvious
that it is a living thing - a huddle of penguins. We watched The March of the
Penguins a few nights ago and as we did we understood what all the fuss has been
about. The film is a delight and an awe-inspiring record of God's amazing design
in creation.
One scene in the film - the one described above - made me smile. The huddle of
bodies are all male. They look like a large boulder because they have their
heads tucked in to keep warm. They are carrying their offspring around on their
feet, covered by a protective flap of skin and fur that keeps out the sub-zero
temperatures. They are waiting for their mates to return with the food that will
keep the tiny ones alive. They have to wait for several long months. In the
meantime the males have saved a pocket of nourishment for the babies. It is
enough to keep them alive until the females come.
The scene that made me smile was the one where they show the females returning.
Suddenly the rounded boulder-like shape moves and all the heads pop up. Then the
noise begins as fathers and babies begin to trumpet so that their mates can find
them. The resulting cacophony made me laugh out loud. It was so obviously
joyful, so full of the sudden energy of anticipation.
It made me wonder what the day will be like when Christ returns. We are a lot
like those penguins, waiting in a huddle, doing what we have to do to survive.
We have been given enough to keep us going - enough in the physical realm and
enough in the spiritual. In 1 Corinthians1:7, the apostle Paul writes
-"Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord
Jesus Christ to be revealed." But we are eagerly waiting because there is
something built into us that knows there is so much more to be had. Just like
those penguins that know that one day the female will return with a banquet for
that baby.
We are eagerly waiting, knowing that some day our heads will look up and know He
has come back. That moment, too, will be full of joy, full of sudden energy. It
is described in the book of Matthew, chapter 24, verse 27 - "For as the
lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so will be the coming of
the Son of Man." And there will be trumpeting then, too, as Paul tells us in 1
Thessalonions 4:16 - "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a
loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God."
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
Marcia Lee Laycock Marcia@vinemarc.com
http://www.vinemarc.com/ Marcia has a new
book called Focused Reflections.