Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

This morning I dropped off some stuff at the Goodwill. As I exited, two hawks came flying by under the sidewalk awning and landed on a display rack in front of the Dollar Store. They were about ten feet away from me. The first one had a rat in his talon and was screeching at the second one which had been hot on his tail. A lady walked out of the store and passed about four feet away without seeing them. I pointed and said "Mam, look!" She tried to ignore me at first, then finally looked and was shocked. We stood there watching these unusual visitors who seemed to have no fear of us or to care one way or the other that they were in highly irregular habitat. Their whole deal was this rat one had that the other wanted. A couple more people happened along and we stood around these regal animals in awe. Somebody said, "Should we be afraid of them?" It was so incongruous for them to be there it was confusing. One doesn't often get a chance to see a bird of prey that close. They are surprisingly big and the way they move seems so alien. Their eyes dart about and are full of fire. The hook beaks hang open when they're up tight and kind of pulse a little bit with each breath. It seems their metabolism is so frenetic that they are living in fast motion even when standing still. The wings are so beautiful, the big talons and beak so powerful. It's fantastic to see details like the leg feathers up close. I was a little confused at first, as they looked like red tails, but they had all these stripes on their tails. Hmmm. Then it hit me that they were behaving like juvenile birds. Looked it up and sure enough, red tail hawks have stripes, or "bands," on their tails until they do this big molt at two years and loose them. So these were probably siblings scuffling over something the way all siblings do. And they hadn't yet quite figured out that they should keep these squabbles away from humans. After they finally took off, they went up on the roof for a while and a third one was up there. What a treat. So sorry I didn't have my camera in the car, but I found a picture for you. I drove away and started thinking about fear again. Young birds often seem to have little fear of people. Somehow they learn it as they get older. When we humans are young we fear all kinds of things we needn't, like strange foods, and don't fear things we should, like hot stoves. When we get older, the list of what we should fear and what we need not fear changes. But I'm thinking that just like when we're kids, we so often we get the lists turned around. In any case, I got up close and personal with critters that stare at you and evoke fear, delight, excitement, and awe at the same time. They can take your breath away with their beauty but it’s obvious they could hurt you if they were so inclined. You want to get closer and to step away at the same time. A reflection of their Creator’s glory that is seldom seen. Wow!