{"id":3546,"date":"2024-04-05T07:49:18","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T11:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=3546"},"modified":"2024-04-05T07:51:19","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T11:51:19","slug":"wild-at-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/05\/wild-at-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Wild at Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, <\/em>click here<\/a>

Be <\/em>afraid.  Be very afraid<\/em>. 

At least, that\u2019s how your local Canada goose wants you to feel.

First things first: that beast with the long black neck and white \u201cchinstrap\u201d \u2013 the bird that may be trying to scare you out of a neighborhood parking lot \u2013 is a Canada<\/em> goose, not a Canadian<\/em> goose.  It would be Canadian only if it has a valid passport representing our neighbors to the north.

It\u2019s hard to believe, but Canada geese were almost on the endangered species list 100 years ago.

Aggressively hunted for their delicious lean meat (think \u201cChristmas goose\u201d), they even had to be re-introduced to the state of Ohio in 1956.

Twenty mated pairs of geese were released into the Buckeye State in the hope they might survive and thrive.  That they did.  Today naturalists estimate there are more than a half million Canada geese that call Ohio home, and millions more have settled in across North America.

In many respects, these birds are endearing.  With their long necks and massive wing spans, they are classic symbols of \u201cwilderness wildness.\u201d  They mate for life \u2013 which is why it tugs at one\u2019s heart to see a solo bird that has presumably lost its partner.  Their babies (called \u201cgoslings\u201d) are capable of swimming just 24 hours after hatching.       

Older Americans associate Canada geese with magnificent V formations heading south every fall, then heading back north in late winter and early spring. 

But such flyovers are becoming less and less common.  What\u2019s happening? 

The simple truth is that it\u2019s become all too easy for geese to \u201cwinter over\u201d in the North instead of packing up and heading for the Gulf.  Humans have conveniently fashioned thousands of retention ponds in subdivisions and business parks.  The food is plentiful and the predators are few.  No wonder Canada geese have begun to act as if they own the place.

And it doesn\u2019t take much to push their territorial buttons. 

When threatened \u2013 especially if a goose thinks you\u2019re getting too close to its nest or goslings \u2013 it might flap its wings, lower its head, stick out its tongue a la Gene Simmons of KISS, make hissing sounds, and, when all else fails, charge.

Geese aren\u2019t particularly dangerous.  But as they settle into their new year-round habitats \u2013 rudely trampling the grass and leaving behind generous piles of droppings \u2013 they can undeniably be annoying.   

That\u2019s what can happen when wild animals become semi-domesticated.

And that\u2019s something that can happen to us, too.

Followers of Jesus are supposed to be wild.  \u201cFollow me\u201d was never intended to be a promise of comfort.  It\u2019s a summons to engage a world where evil and injustice really exist.

We\u2019re called to advocate for the poor, the powerless, and those on the margins.  We\u2019re to invest our resources in world-changing projects instead of easing ourselves into lifestyles that are all about us.  God boldly beckons us to risk our reputations, our social standing, and even our safety for the sake of God\u2019s kingdom.  And at every step our call is not to judge others, but to love courageously. 

But it\u2019s easy to grow deaf to the call of the wild.

We start hanging out at churches that protect the status quo instead of challenging it.  We write checks to help others go change the world instead of asking God to show us how we<\/u><\/em> <\/em>can change the parts of the world where we already live and work.   

The Good Life becomes safe, easy, and semi-domesticated \u2013 a religiously motivated effort to avoid ruffling anyone\u2019s feathers.  As one bishop lamented, \u201cEverywhere the apostle Paul went, people rioted.  Everywhere I go, they serve tea.\u201d

It\u2019s time to reclaim our natural state. <\/em>

As frontline ambassadors for God\u2019s purposes in the world, we\u2019re supposed to be wild. 

Which means, as we walk gingerly past any nesting Canada geese today, we might even consider dusting off that old bumper sticker:

Honk if You Love Jesus. <\/em>
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Be afraid.  Be very afraid.  At least, that\u2019s how your local Canada goose wants you to feel. First things first: that beast with the long black neck and white \u201cchinstrap\u201d \u2013 the bird that may be trying to scare you out of a neighborhood parking lot \u2013 is a Canada goose, not… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3547,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[399,710],"class_list":["post-3546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-adventure","tag-birds"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3546"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3546\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3550,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3546\/revisions\/3550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}