Female Red-Shouldered Hawk
John Miller
04/29/21
- Windstream Mail
R E F L E C T I O N S Thoughts on nature and the Christian faith - 4/26/21 ____________________________________________________________________ "For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God." - Rom. 8:19-21 |
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This is one of the last photographs I took of a female red-shouldered hawk at its nest on our property. I have watched this hawk sitting on its eggs, never moving through weeks of rain, wind, heat, and even snow. The dedication of this mother to its unborn young has been amazing. I was looking forward to photographing the young hawks as they matured before leaving their nest. Sadly, this never happened. One morning we noticed a disturbance on the forest floor not far from the nest. There were hawk feathers and down everywhere. When I started watching the nest again, I saw the male come once, look into the nest, squawk loudly over and over, then leave never to return. I can only guess as to what happened. An owl or maybe a raccoon had raided the nest killing the mother and her young. Such is the reality of nature - order as well as chaos, peace as well as violence, life as well as death. But it was not that way in the beginning. The fall of man in the garden of Eden affected the natural world as well as all of mankind. Because of human sin, violence and destruction entered the world. In a very real sense, this mother hawk and her young suffered because of our rebellion against God. But when Jesus returns, all will be made right again. I long for that day and I believe the rest of creation does as well. Perhaps I will see this mother hawk again to tell her of the joy she brought into our lives and also to apologize for all the horror we humans have caused. She will finally be safe and totally free then. And so will I. - John
