I’d consider our first 2020 outdoor service on the front
lawn at church a great success. Social
distancing, face masks and disinfectants were used to facilitate live-stream worshiping
in person during this worldwide pandemic.
Our volunteer Shepherd’s Team provides hospitality and security outside
the campus every Sunday at worship. The team
name derives from the Biblical shepherds that guarded and defended flocks of
sheep during the time that our Good Shepherd walked this earth. At night the shepherd would guide his flock
into a stone pen or cave and then sleep at the entrance to ensure that no
predator would disrupt the peace.
While I was walking and standing on the perimeter of our
campus bordering Main Street, I was struck by a memory of observing migrating waterfowl
while growing up in central Kansas. I
accompanied my father and uncles early on in their pursuit of ducks and geese where
they congregated on the cattle ponds and grain fields. But we couldn’t get within range of these
flocks in the grain fields due to the sentinels sounding the alert!
You would always see the early winter-feeding flocks of
geese in the cut grain fields with one or more geese, depending on the flock size,
standing on the perimeter with their long necks stretched. They would instinctively act as sentinels to alert
the others of any impending danger while they were distracted. And just as when they were flying in a “V”
formation, individual members of the flock would rotate in and take their place
to share the responsibility for the good of the flock.
When geese fly in formation behind one another a drafting
effect occurs to enable them to fly farther with 70% less energy. NASCAR team drivers do the same thing. Whenever a goose falls out of formation it
immediately feels the drag of losing the uplift draft and gets back in
formation. When the lead goose tires, they
drop back and another one takes the lead into the wind for the good of the
flock. The geese at the back honk to offer
encouragement to those up front to keep the pace! If a goose is in trouble and has to quit
flying, a couple of geese drop out to help protect it.
We’re relational beings that need to look out for one
another, especially in times of crisis.
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