A Higher Calling

Al was all set to go on a bike ride when I decided on the spur of the moment to join him. I reasoned that it would be nice to get out of the house; the exercise would be good for me; and most importantly, it was something we could do together.

He was kind enough to delay his ride to check the air pressure of the tires on my bike while I hurried to get ready. It was my first ride of the summer. Would I be wobbly? Fall off?  Might as well give it a try, I thought to myself.

We waited until the road was clear and then sailed down the driveway and into the street. It was a perfect morning to ride. The weather was nice with a slight breeze that kept us cool as we made the first three and a half-mile lap around the neighborhood.

“Do you want to take a detour to see the roundabout?” he called back over his shoulder.

 A small roundabout was being constructed in order to reduce the number of accidents at the intersection of our road and a busy street running north and south. People trying to make a left turn from our road or just crossing the intersection risked getting broad sided by a car traveling at high-speed coming from the other direction.

 Construction had begun early in June and was scheduled to be completed at the end of August. It was the main topic of conversation in the neighborhood, with a lot of different views and emotions being expressed, for sure!

 I was curious to see how much progress had been made, so we veered away from our established route and rode to the site, parking our bikes just outside the barriers. Trucks, pipes, and various pieces of equipment were scattered around the usually quiet area.

Just after stopping, a shrill cry caught my attention. I knew instantly what it was and looked up in time to see two hawks circling far overhead, oblivious to the commotion below. Looking for squirrels? Maybe… squirrels were plentiful in the area.

Not many hawks though! It was a treat to see them. Supposedly they nested at the top of the silver water-tower a few blocks away.

 Their sound brought back memories of our previous country home in Springville, California. When we first moved to the country, the piercing calls seemed strangely eerie, as did the howls of coyotes during the night. But during our thirty years living there, the sounds of hawks, coyotes and many other wildlife became familiar, always causing us to stop and listen.

Then there was the memorable day when I heard our dogs barking under the redwoods lining the southern edge of the property and hurried over to investigate. Both dogs were circling around a large hawk, trying to get close enough to grab it. The desperate hawk had flipped over on its back and was prepared to fight, with its claws extended and sharp beak opened.

After dragging them by their collars back to their dog run, we called a friend who had recently retired from the Fish and Game Department. Wearing leather gloves, he deftly grasped the hawk by its legs and put it into a cage.

After a few days, he called with the news that the hawk had been released into the wild. Perhaps a pulled tendon had rendered it unable to fly. From then on, whenever I’d hear the cry overhead, I would wonder if it was the same hawk coming back to say “thank you!”

On the day of our bike ride, I felt God speaking to me through the cries of the hawks, wanting me to focus on Him and calling me higher, far above the worldly cares and trials that so often get me down.

May our ears be in tune with God’s call and when we hear Him, may we be quick to respond. He loves us!

 “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold if it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 3:12-14 NIV

 

 

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