I Want To See

   A thought from the Gospel reading for this morning, related to Jesus' disciple Thomas. Yes Thomas, who said to the other disciples after the Resurrection: (John 20)

"Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the wounds from the nails in his hands, and put my finger into the wounds from the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe it!”

   This same Thomas had asked Jesus a question earlier in Jesus' ministry:

"Thomas said, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 

   Thomas wanted to see. We all do, see with our own eyes and understand what it is all about.

   Yesterday I wanted to see if I could get a picture of an osprey on her nest, or maybe just the baby bird waiting for the mother to bring food back. I had seen a nest when I was out the other morning at sunrise, so I went back to that spot. Here is what I saw through my zoom lens set at the maximum 200mm.

   There are several problems in getting a shot of a bird family like the osprey. The nests are high off the ground, and to be able to see into the nest you have to have a high perch to shoot from or you have to get pretty far away. I don't climb trees well these days, and my only lens with me was the 200, so I had to bring the image back in my camera and put it on the computer to determine what might be there.

   It did not make a good shot because of the way I had to crop it down so far, but here it is:

   For one thing, it did not look like an osprey. I had questioned that fact from the way that there was no adult osprey near by. Usually either the mother or father is close, and if danger is near, they fly around and screech. There was no activity or any noise there.

   I determined that it must be a baby owl, seen in the middle of the nest. I had seen owls take over an osprey nest before, in fact, I had noticed an older osprey nest on the golf course where the same thing was taking place.

   The second nest from a distance. The nest is middle frame to the right.

   The second nest with the shot cropped. I even saw an adult great horned owl in a tree across the fairway, keeping watch over this baby owlet, but also keeping quiet.

   How does all of this relate to Thomas? Well, I could have heard about the owls, I could have gone and seen the nest, but until I found a way to get closer, I could not believe what was true about the whole situation.

   It is equally true in life. If I want to truly see, I must be willing to put myself in a position to be closer to what I am seeking. Keeping my eyes and ears open in the places that God places me, is a first step. Placing my feet closer, not farther away, is mighty important too.

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,"