Saturday, May 1, 2010

If Only We Could Communicate

Did you ever have an animal you wished you could communicate with – a pet dog or cat, even a horse? Imagine how naturalists and scientists are feeling as they anticipate the likely devastation from the massive oil spill off the coast of Louisiana.

Following the offshore oil well explosion April 20, countless thousands of gallons of oil are spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, slowly moving toward land. And experts fear not enough can be done to avert major environmental consequences.

While numerous crews work feverishly to cap off the huge oil leak and others struggle to contain the widening oil slick as it heads shoreward, the greatest concern is for animal and plant life. Sea turtles, manatees, dolphins and shrimp are just some of the species at risk, along with many varieties of birds migrating back to the region. Scientists are using terms like “very bad timing” and “the worst possible time” for the oil spill – although all would agree there’s no “good” time for such a catastrophe.

Naturalists helplessly ponder the plight of wildlife that will encounter the runaway oil. The first avian victim, a northern gannett, was found, its normally white feathers, yellow head and long, pointed beak covered with thick, black oil.

If only there were a way of communicating to alert them to the approaching danger and direct them to safety and refuge. Alas, we would have to become a dolphin to forewarn the dolphins, or a pelican to caution the pelicans.

In essence that is what occurred when “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14). God, in the person of Jesus Christ, took on human form to communicate – in words and action – His saving message to mankind, warning of impending danger far greater than any manmade or natural disaster.

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