Nuthatches Are Remarkable Little Birds
John Miller
03/29/21
- Windstream Mail
R E F L E C T I O N S Thoughts on nature and the Christian faith - 3/29/21 __________________________________________________________________ "You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, He did not make me” - Isa. 29:16 |
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Nuthatches are remarkable little birds. They received their name due to the way they carry nuts and seeds back to trees that have rough bark. Once there, they wedge the nut into a crevice and then use their beaks to pry open the nut and so "hatch" it from its shell and then feed on what is inside. This white-breasted nuthatch is displaying another unique ability of these birds. They can walk in any direction on a tree, usually upside down unlike other birds. They can do this because they have one backwards facing claw which they use to anchor themselves and keep from falling. You can see that claw in this image. Nuthatches literally turn the way other birds climb upside down. And so has most of the world. In our supposed sophistication we have refused to acknowledge the existence of our Creator. We have turned the Creator/creature relationship upside down. It makes as much sense as a clay pot feeling superior to the potter who made it. The way many people, even some Christians, regard God borders on blasphemy. God is stripped of the honor and majesty he deserves and is reduced to our buddy, our servant, or some ill-defined and seldom thought of "man upstairs". When we worship creation instead of the Creator the inevitable result is an elevation of man and a subordination of God. We begin to tell God how we think he should behave and in the process invent a god who looks suspiciously like ourselves. This is the essence of idolatry. This is a reversal of reality. Nuthatches were made to walk upside down. We weren't. - John
