Yellow Pelicans
Feb 25th, 2010 by Sam Song
I recently took my daughter, Sophia, out in the morning for a father/daughter outing. What started out as a way to give mom a break from her hard work in raising our daughter became an awe inspiring moment of knowing a little more of who GOD is.
I took her to Newport Pier and played at the beach, had donuts (don’t tell mom) and walked down to the edge of the pier. And that is when we saw these magnificent creatures. Notice the Yellow heads.
I stood there with Sophia on my shoulders staring at these creatures. The beauty and the majesty of these Pelicans pointed to a MASTERFUL CREATOR. These birds were almost as big as Sophia.
And as we stood there looking out toward Catalina Islands, Sophia kept pointing out towards the horizon as to say, “what’s over there?”
Hawaii, Asia, India, Africa, New York, Texas and us. A full circle around the world. On this earth, it is amazing and overwhelming to think how many billions of people live on this earth. It is beyond comprehension how many types of birds, fishes, animals, plants, trees, etc… exists.
And in being one within this vast creation, I have been experiencing the unique love GOD has for me through this Story of Yellow.
How crazy is that? Out of all of creation including the universes, how can GOD love the singular me. How does HE make time to whisper to me and answer me? How does HE comfort and heal me?
Only explanation is that HE is GOD. Not the God that can be contained with three capital letters or even the bible, but the GOD who is the Creator, the Omnipotent, the Omnipresent and the Omniscient. The GOD who is LOVE.
A father’s love for his daughter can seem immeasurable? I can only stretch out my arm so much to express how much my love for Sophia is. So then, is it possible to measure God’s love for us or do we simply have to see GOD as LOVE.
I leave you also with a couple of questions I’ve been wrestling with.
1. If I never knew of the Bible, would I still believe there is a GOD?
2. If I didn’t know of Jesus, would I equate GOD to LOVE?
Love to hear your thoughts.
As for question #1, I think it would depend on what you were looking for. If you were seeking answers to the riddles of life, you might look anywhere you found an answer that made sense or tickled your fancy (I know I would). And the one True God of the Bible may speak to you through various means but it would ultimatly lead to a choice between truth and opinion/experience. With that said, I am reminded of a radio show where the speaker went to a promenant Christian college and asked a simple question “How do you know the Bible is true?” The answers he got were not only depressing but these were the future pastors and proclaimers of the Gospel! Finially he was confronted on the last day by a student who thought he had it figured out. He said “I believe the Bible is true because it is.” The speaker, with a sad tone answered “You believe the Bible is true because it is, but I say the Bible IS true and therefore I am compelled to believe it is.” This was a revalation to me and got my head to not just seeing truth from a personal perspective but from a place where opinion and fact are seperated and the rest is faith. For faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Also the John 1 says it best “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God and the Word was with God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt amoung us (Christ).
The rest of that section of John 1 describes to me what the world does with Christ and His word. He like His word are under attack for reasons that are grounded in mankinds sinful nature. I almost wonder about the time when Christ was weeping while coming into Jeruselum and they were waving palm branches. Was he crying because he loved them or was there more. Not to put words in Christ’s mouth or be disrepectful of Him, but I wonder if He thought, do they want a leader or a lamb? Do they want their enemy’s pierced or do they want my brow and side pierced? Do they want to be exalted or do they want Me exalted? Do they want to be free from earthly suffering or free from eternal suffering? Do they truly love Me for Me or for the image of Me they have created?
As for question #2 I believe it can be answered for me it the verse that says “In this is LOVE, not that we loved God but that He LOVED us and sent His son to be the propitiation for our sins. I John 4:10. It reminds me of what marrige should be showing the world, in that our wives (representative of the church) did not first love us, but were able and willing to love us when they saw our love (representative of Christ) for them. In fact 1 John 4 is pretty deep about this.
Sorry to be long, but if you read this far, then thanks for hearing me.
Wow Ron. Thanks for the fullness of your comment. I like the quote “the bible is True therefore I’m compelled to believe.”
Thanks for the dialogue.