It was like something from “The Twilight Zone.” It could not have been more carefully scripted in a book. This morning while eating breakfast my wife and I noticed an increased red squirrel population on the patio. Apparently a new family had just left the nest and was exploring their new world. As they were running around I said, “It’s a good thing hawks eat squirrels or soon we would be overrun.” As my wife responded, “We also have coyotes and fisher cats” a red fox raced on to the patio and snatched one of the new baby squirrels. I could not believe what I had just witnessed in relationship to our conversation. Wow!
While I felt sorry for the squirrel I also hoped the fox enjoyed his breakfast. He needed to eat and we needed to get rid of some squirrels. As beautiful as our patio is right now with the rhododendrons in glorious full red bloom it certainly isn’t Eden. It is full of eaters and the to be eaten. I’m thankful to be at the top of the food chain even though one afternoon in Africa I wasn’t so sure I was. I had inadvertently backed our car into a warthog hole and the only way out was for me to get out of the car and into the hole to lift and push as my wife drove. Less than 50 feet away a family of lions watched me with great interest. I must not have looked very tasty because I am still here.
Isaiah 65:25 has never ceased to fascinate me. It describes a time when lions and lambs will lie down together. Just how this will work I don’t know. But I, and I am sure you, are most anxious to see.
Written by Roger Bothwell on June 6, 2008.
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574