Yesterday, as my daughter drove to pick up her friend for carpool [she doesn’t get her license until later this month], I noticed a huge hawk sitting on the curb.
We slowed down to get a better look. It was huge and totally indifferent to our car. I contemplated circling back to take a picture with my I-phone, but to be honest I was afraid to get out of the car. I went on with my morning. I dropped the girls off at school and then went to the YMCA to work out (another personal challenge). The bird never crossed my mind again. But when I got home from my workout, there was another hawk on my lawn. As I pulled in the driveway, it flew past the car and perched itself on my fencepost. I drove up closer to the fence and rolled down the window to take a picture.
The hawk was unmoved by the sound of my engine or the garage opening, which unnerved me. As a precaution I didn’t get out of the car until I was safely on the other side of the garage with the door closed. I figured it wouldn’t bother me, but why take any chances.
I stood at my kitchen window and watched the hawk for the next half hour, wondering if there was some deeper meaning to its presence in my life. I sensed it had a message for me.
The book, Animal Speaks, by Ted Andrews states:
This powerful bird can awaken visionary power and lead you to your life purpose. It is a messenger bird, and wherever it shows up, pay attention. There is a message coming.” It also says, “The red-tail can spread its wings to great width, and it can teach you to use your creative energies in the same way.
I’m not sure how much I buy into animals as messengers. But even the Bible uses birds to teach us about God’s provision in our lives:
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they.
Matthew 6:26
The hawk exuded power. Perhaps it is a symbol of what our creativity can be if we allow God to work through us. Noticing that big bird today reminded me of how much I miss, moving through life so focused on the task at hand. As writers and artists, we can’t afford to overlook the world around us. It fuels us. We have to be watchful and alert. Not all of our messages will be as obvious as my hawks. And there is so much out there for us to learn from.