Are you a Bird of Prey?

Last year I went on vacation with my family to the mountains of Vermont. It was beautiful, serene, and very quiet. It was an amazing time of fun, rest and peace.

While on the trip we went to a sanctuary for Birds of prey. They had everything from owls to hawks. They were all injured and some were able to be rehabilitated. We sat in a room with other tourists and bird watchers and listened to a man speak. He had a peregrine falcon on his hand and talked to us about the bird and the facility.

He then told us about the birds injuries. I began to hear how this peaceful and serene area was undergird with the wild and raw world of animal life in the area. It almost mirrored our every day struggles in what seems to be a peaceful and simple world it is actually wild, raw and sometimes brutal.  Overall it was an interesting talk, but at the same time found my mind wandering.
My attention quickly snapped back when he said this:

“we have a hard time diagnosing injuries in these birds because they instinctively fake being well. if injured they will pretend they are not out of fear of being another animals lunch. Only when it is real bad do they not fake it.”

It hit me with a ton of bricks. That is exactly what christians do. They fake being ok with the new Christian F word “I’m Fine” or “I’m blessed” out of fear of being exposed and becoming the lunch of a judgmental brother or sister. We live behind 20 year old bumper stickers that claim everything is perfect.

We work so hard on being “fine” that it begins to destroy us and it is only when we hit rock bottom that we choose to deal with the problem and confess or talk to somebody about it. We hide our imperfections, our battle wounds and scars. We switch churches so we can blend in and not have to get too deep with people. We have learned to wear a mask that seems to get tighter and tighter the longer we hold on to our baggage.

The Bible says “cast all your cares upon me” so why do we only choose certain things to give to God and only certain areas of our life to open up about.

There is freedom in confession. There is peace in opening up to somebody. There is healing when we stop claiming we are fine and expose our wounds.

Are you a bird of prey? Are you hurt and wounded but hide it only until the last second when you can no longer hide it?