It’s Uncanny What a Pelican Can Do That We Cannot

What’s your favorite bird? The cardinal, with its bright red plumage? Or the blue jay, another crested specimen in an equally beautiful blue? How about the wobbly-walking penguin, with its tuxedo-like color scheme? Or the stately bald eagle, appropriately chosen as a symbol of American pride and grandeur?

Perhaps your choice would lean toward a more domesticated variety, like a parakeet, canary, cockatoo, or even a parrot. My personal favorite? As was reaffirmed during a recent trip to Daytona Beach, Fla., it’s the pelican. What? That ugly bird? Well, yeah, but not because it has a face only a momma bird could love.

Over the years I’ve observed pelicans at a variety of beaches on Florida’s Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Each time I’ve been amazed by these skillful fish hunters. They can seem so unpresentable up close – at least when compared to their feathery counterparts, like gulls, puffins, gannets, petrels and terns. (Did you know that one good tern deserves another?) And yet, when flying in formation, gliding along the wind currents as they soar effortlessly overhead, they collectively become a thing of beauty.

 

To me, pelicans provide a powerful visual metaphor for how we must look to God. Ephesians 2:10 declares that we are “God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” However, in His holiness and righteousness, we must sometimes look anything but glowing examples of His workmanship.

 

Earlier in the same chapter it states, “As for you, you were dead in your trespasses and sin, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world…gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts…” (Ephesians 2:1-3). Not a very pretty picture; as such, we appeared to be anything but being godly, created in the image of God, as Genesis 1:27 tells us.

 

And yet, to return to the example of Mr. Pelican, he’s been created specially and specifically by God: Beady eyes that work perfectly for spotting fish far above the surface of the water. Its mouth equipped with muscles to pull the flexible lower jawbones outward to form a large pouch suited for catching and transporting its fishy prey. And wings that not only propel it quickly over the water, but also enable it to soar far overhead. 

 

Relating this wondrous design to humans, God’s consummate creation, we can recognize that just as He devised a unique design for the humble pelican, He also has a purposeful, one-of-a-kind design for each of us. As Psalm 139:13-14 reminds us, “For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made….”

 

When we are doing what the Lord created us to do, whether it’s raising children, giving a speech, tending to the sick, teaching students, starting a new business, writing a book or dancing on a stage, the Lord must marvel at us with delight. We become transformed, flaws and foibles unseen, like the gawky-looking pelican flying aloft with others in formations that would rival that of precision-piloted jet fighters.

 

As God declares in Isaiah 43:6-7, “…Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth – everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” When we’re engaged in pursuits the Lord has prepared for us, we have the privilege of bring Him honor and glory.

 

Speaking of how He revels in turning the hearts of His rebellious children back to Him, God says, “When they see among them their children, the work of my hands, they will keep my name holy; they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob and stand in awe of the God of Israel” (Isaiah 29:23).

We might not be capable of soaring high above, carried about by the winds, or diving swiftly into the ocean to capture fish in our mouths. (I’m kind of glad we can’t do the latter.) But when we go to work as ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20); or train up our children in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6); or love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:31), I suspect we bring even more joy to the heart of God. 

Finding Beauty in the Midst of the Ugliness

Every time I go to the beach, it’s like a spiritual experience: Observing the waves crashing on the shore. Enjoying a beautiful sunrise or sunset. Seeing footprints someone has left in the sand. Watching a sailboat harness the breeze to skim across the water. These all are wondrous sights, giving me a renewed appreciation for the wonders and variety of God’s creation. 

Probably my favorite is the sight of pelicans soaring in the wind, diving to catch a fish, or bobbing peacefully in the ebbs and flows of the ocean. Pelicans are a paradox of sorts, rather ugly birds up close, with long, slender beaks, beady eyes, and mouths that sag under the weight of a just inhaled meal. Not nearly as majestic as a bald eagle or captivating as a cardinal. And yet, when flying together, riding the air currents in perfect unison, they transform into visions of unquestionable grandeur.

 

I'd imagine these winged creatures experience a sense of joy and fulfillment as they soar in tandem, doing what they were uniquely designed to do. I’d never expect anyone to adopt the slogan, “pretty as a pelican.” But seeing these seabirds frolicking so effortlessly through the air, especially with a blazing sky at sunset as a backdrop, is exhilarating. 

This is kind of a metaphor for the Church. Not all of us are beautiful blue jays, proud peacocks or songbirds festooned in feathery splendor. Some of us are more like the peculiar pelican or comical penguins; a few among us bear a suspicious resemblance to vultures. But when we come together in unity and harmony, blending our distinctive talents, skills and gifts, we can become a wondrous spiritual body that powerfully reflects the divine traits of our Creator.

 

The psalmist writes, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). While we typically ascribe this to humanity, I don’t see any reason for not applying this description to all of His works. Because in Romans 1:20 we’re told, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”

 

But getting back to the Church – the body of Christ – and the crazy, quirky folks that comprise it, even though individually many of us aren’t all that much to look at, when we merge to perform a spiritual symphony for the Lord, the melody that results is unforgettable.

 

We find the apostle Paul describing this, but using another metaphor – the human body: “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts, and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ…. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ and the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor…. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:12-27).

 

When the odd-looking pelicans align in formation as they catch the wind, they are doing so in silent praise to God. Working together in symmetry to fulfill His purpose and design for them. We can do the same when we too come together to convey – verbally and non-verbally – Jesus’ eternal, life-changing message of forgiveness, redemption and reconciliation. Psalm 133:1 declares, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!”

 

Unity seems to be a much-neglected quality in our society these days, and the spirit of disunity has trickled down into the Church. If only we could become more like pelicans, casting aside our differences and idiosyncrasies to form a vision of oneness for all the world to see.

 

As Paul wrote, “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 15:5-6).

Pelicans: Pictures of Perfection

Gawky-looking while still, the pelican becomes
a spectacle for the eyes when in motion.

Pelicans are my new favorite bird. Yes, cardinals, blue jays and goldfinches are much more colorful. As are macaws, flamingos and even parakeets. The peacock’s plumage puts the drab-colored pelican to shame in that respect. Bald eagles seem much more dignified. But every time I’ve gone to the beach, whether on the Atlantic or Gulf coasts, I’ve felt a sense of wonderment watching pelicans – alone or in groups – soaring aloft.

Bobbing in the ocean or on dry land, pelicans are rather silly-looking creatures. Long beaks and tiny eyes. However, when flying in formation whether overhead, riding the wind currents, or skimming the waves while seeking fish for their next meal, there’s something majestic about them.

A casual glance at a pelican at rest might remind the observer of an engineer’s worst nightmare. Their pencil-shaped beaks and beady eyes don’t evoke images of beauty. But in action, it’s obvious these creatures – actually eight different varieties within the species Pelecanus, I recently learned – are designed with perfection.

Peter Pelican peering through the water, 
looking for the day's dinner.

The beak allows the bird to cut through the air with a minimum of wind resistance that a NASCAR body shop would envy. Its long, wide-sweeping wings enable it to float on high with virtually no effort, and its eyes – small as they are – provide piercing vision for quickly pouncing on prey swimming below. The lower portion of its beak features a large throat pouch for holding and preparing little “groceries” for consumption. “Paper or plastic – or pouch?”

In addition, pelicans instinctively know how to travel in flocks and hunt cooperatively. Watching them along Florida’s panhandle, in formation they look as beautiful as precision-flown jets sometimes seen coming from the Pensacola Navy Base.

What strikes me most is that the pelican couldn’t have resulted from some cosmic accident. Too many exacting characteristics to have all combined together conveniently, no matter how many eons were allotted.

In the first chapter of Genesis, it says God created all the animals, including “the fish of the sea and the birds of the air,” not only giving each a unique design but also ordaining what and how they would eat (Genesis 1:26-30). Can you imagine the Lord exercising His divine creativity and deciding the shapes and colors and traits of birds, ranging from the noble eagle to the busy hummingbird to the pretty in pink but gawky-looking flamingo to the pelican?

The psalmist David in Psalm 139:14 writes of humankind being “fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” According to the Scriptures, people are the apex of His creation, but it seems to me the “fearfully and wonderfully made” description applies to everything we observe in nature, from the industrious beaver and goofy-looking platypus to moray eels and puppies. (Still not sure where mosquitoes fit into the equation.)

For the non-believer who demands, “Prove there is a God!”, I would first respond, “Prove there isn’t a God.” Then I would say something like, “Have you considered the pelican?”

Pelicans – and Beauty Contests

We live in a culture obsessed with outward appearances. Magazines annually declare the “most beautiful woman” and “most gorgeous man.” Celebrities strut the red carpets prior to awards events, eager to display how incredible they can look, whether dressed conservatively and tastefully, garishly and outrageously, or somewhere in between.

Proud moms trot out their little darlings at mini-beauty pageants, teaching them early the strategies for leveraging a pleasing look to achieve recognition and success. And each spring, as another summer approaches, advertisements and commercials exhort women to utilize various products and services to achieve that “perfect bikini body.”

When I was an adolescent, one of my friends enjoyed repeating, “Beauty is only skin deep – but ugliness goes clear to the bone!” But that’s not true. Striking outward appearances can deceive, and an unattractive exterior may belie great quality within.

Up close and personal, this pelican
wasn't much to look at.

I was reminded of this during a recent beach vacation – and it didn’t involve a shapely young woman in a swimsuit. My reminder was a lone pelican bobbing in the water at a marina near a restaurant where we were eating.

This feathered fellow apparently was accustomed to being gawked at by strangers. In fact, he maneuvered toward us in case we wanted to get a better look. This creature with overly extended beak and beady eyes would never win an avian beauty contest. In fact, he would have made a humble sparrow look downright regal by comparison.

But later in the week I observed a flock of pelicans – the solitary bird I had seen earlier might have been among them. As they soared overhead in formation, fluidly riding the wind currents, or skimmed the waves just offshore, hovering just inches above the water’s surface, they looked majestic – and beautiful. They demonstrated aerodynamic synchronicity pilots in the Navy’s Blue Angels or the Air Force’s Thunderbirds would admire.

That same day I read a description of William Wilberforce, the British statesman in the late 1700s and early 1800s who campaigned for decades, relentless in his determination to abolish the slave trade in Great Britain. He was widely described as “an ugly little man with too long a nose.” Not the kind of guy who’d catch people’s eye at a social event, I suppose. Yet, as a white man, he merits special honor and appreciation in black history books.

The Bible makes clear our fascination with superficiality is contrary to God’s perspective. When the prophet Samuel was sent by the Lord to identify the successor to Saul as king of Israel, the prophet inspected Jesse’s sons and believed several passed “the eye test.” But each time Samuel asked, “Is it this one, Lord?” he received the answer,  “No, not him…. No, not him either.”

Finally the lowly shepherd boy, David, who hadn’t been voted most likely to succeed in his high school yearbook, was ushered onto the scene. This unlikely tender of sheep was God’s chosen one. Then Samuel was informed, “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

Elsewhere, David’s son Solomon, who succeeded him as king, affirmed that truth: “All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart” (Proverbs 21:2). What’s going on inside is what matters to God.

These pelicans could soar with as much
precision as trained jet pilots.

So it’s interesting that the homely pelican, one of God’s bountiful array of curious creatures, was designed to display a marvelous grandeur in flight, especially in the company of other pelicans. And without possessing outward handsomeness by any measure, the inner winsomeness of William Wilberforce – largely the outworking of profound devotion to Jesus Christ – was manifested in his resolve to extricate a noble race of people from the horrendous, dehumanizing institution of slavery.

From God’s perspective, looks really aren’t everything! In fact, it seems He doesn’t place much stock in externals at all. Jesus made that clear when He addressed the religious leaders of the day: "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean” (Matthew 23:27).

So next time you find yourself preening a bit too much in front of a mirror, or feel the temptation to pass judgment on someone based on their outward appearance, remember the pelican. Not much to look at, but wow, can he soar!