Adapting the DNA of love
A reflection on the readings for Proper 18B - James 2:1-10, (11-13),
14-17; Mark 7:24-37
Birds of all sizes, shapes, colors, and
varieties are lined up on the railing of the deck. Others are happily pecking
away at the feeder. And then - woosh! - they are gone! – scattered to hiding
places in nearby bushes. I can always tell when the hawk is around by the split
second reaction of the birds!
The
other day I saw the red- tail hawk fly out of the large pine tree in front of
the church and swoop across the community garden to the golf course. It’s flown
off the roof of the rectory, too.
This hawk has a broad wing span which enables
it to soar and hover in the air. If the winds are just right, the hawk can fly
to a fixed point and maintain its position by controlling the air flow around its
body with minute wing and tail movements all the while keeping its head
perfectly still. Its piercing eyes can detect the slightest movement of prey. [i]
One of the largest birds you’ll see in North
America, the biggest female red-tail weighs only three pounds. A similar-sized
small dog might weigh 10 times that.
I’m thinking about birds, in particular bird
feathers, because the other day I heard an interview on NPR’s Fresh
Air with Thor Hansen, a conservationist and biologist. He was talking
about his book, “Feather: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle”.
Hanson said,
“There are many things in nature that have
beautifully adapted to a single purpose. But feathers have
adapted too many purposes: the diversity of feathers in form and function
is unique; they can offer a stunning display of color for attraction and mating;
enable and enhance flight; offer warmth or provide cooling; a fine insulation,
many feathers are also water-proof.”
The first evidence of feathers appears in
fossils of theropod dinosaurs such as the tyrannosaurus, and other two-footed dinosaurs.
These feathers were not aerodynamic. Most likely dinosaurs had feathers to keep
them warm or prevent overheating.
A birds’ coat of feathers outweighs its skeleton
two to one.
Feathers are made of protein – beta-keratin
which is also the primary protein in hair. This protein makes the feather
lightweight, durable, and easily takes on color. If one pinches or cuts the
pin-feathers of a baby bird, the broken feather will bleed because the barbs of
the feather are alive. Because the growth of a feather is complex the outcome
is complex – many different kinds of feathers can be developed.
The barbs on the feather interlock as they
grow creating complex interactions that enable the bird to fly.
The wing of a bird is air foil shaped, having
a curve, that gives birds an extra lift. Not only the wings but the individual
feathers are air foil shaped – so feathers and wings work together to
automatically adapt to wind, temperature, and other factors in flying.
Feathers are the most efficient insulation known.
Feathers can be water proof. If the feather
and coating over the belly of a water bird is damaged the bird will suffer from
hypothermia. Ornithologists thought bird feathers were water proof due to oil
in the feather. Oil plays a role, but it is the structure that is water proof.
The color of feathers is also evolutionary.
Males have bright colors to encourage and entice females. Females have more
subtle colors for protection, allowing them to blend into the environment as
they sit on nests and protect the young. Adapting is built into the DNA of
creation, a gift from God, one might say.
The Season of
Creation, our five week series which begins today and ends with the blessing of
the animals on Oct. 7, challenges us to re-orient our
relationship with creation. We are challenged to return to our biblical roots
to rediscover our intimate connections with creation. We are challenged to see
ourselves again as part of the very Earth from which we are made.
Sallie
McFague, a Christian theologian speaks of the world as God’s body. Tending to
the world and all that lives is tending to God.
Two
themes run through our readings this morning:
·
who
are we?
·
And,
what are we doing?
Both
James and the Gospel of Mark remind us of who are – we are ALL God’s people.
James
speaks of who one is, but more important, James says, how
one acts as a person of faith.
The
Season of Creation reminds us that, we are members of God’s creation. As
members of God’s creation we are to care equally for all human beings, all
creatures of the earth, and the earth itself. All of life, all creation is
interconnected.
Therefore, as Bruce Epperly, a spiritual
director and theologian writes in his commentary on today’s readings,
“Any healing act contributes to the well-being
of the part as well as the whole and reflects our commitment to be God’s global
healing partners.” [ii]
Some scholars believe the Gospel of Mark was
written in order to show how God is active, for our sake, in the life, death
and resurrection of Jesus. [iii]
In Jesus God manifests God’s transformational love for all.
Jesus shuns a Syrophoenician woman. The woman
– a Gentile and a pagan lives outside the community Jesus normally deals with.
It’s startling to hear, but Jesus calls her a dog. This does not seem like the
Jesus we know….
There are many different scholarly
perspectives on why Jesus acts this way. Perhaps the most reasonable is that
Jesus is on a mission. He is focused on that mission and, in his haste, he
brushes this woman aside.[iv]
But, when Jesus shuns her like a stray dog,
she pushes back. She boldly proclaims God’s love for everyone including those
deemed as dogs and outsiders.
Perhaps in this story Jesus is just like you
and me – busy, focused, distracted, not paying full attention….and then he experiences
a woman who opens his eyes to what he is doing – and who she really is – and he changes his mind. He
shows compassion and heals her daughter.
Scripture offers us several examples of the
divine mind being changed – Abraham and Moses both change God’s mind several
times. This woman changes Jesus’s mind.
It leaves me thinking that the ability to
adapt is a kind of divine intervention built into creation by God’s design. Adaptation
designed to move us, like divine DNA, like birds of a feather, toward
compassion, reconciliation, and love.
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