By: Jack Kale, Pastor Central Pensacola Beach
I wouldn’t have seen it if I hadn’t looked up. I had been doing a few things in the backyard when I happened to avert my gaze to the sky. That’s when I saw a fully mature Bald Eagle soaring over my house. Its white head and tail feathers were dead giveaways for its identification. Ospreys are much more common, so I really enjoyed watching this majestic bird float along the currents over my neighborhood. It was purely magical.
They are called Bald Eagles because of their coloration. If you ask kindergarteners why they are called that they will tell you “because they are bald.” Haha. I know this from personal experience, as I teach a lesson about the wild turkey every November in our local schools where I ask that exact question. I’m guessing most people agree! However, that’s not quite right. The brown and white color combination is called pie-bald. Mature Bald Eagles will exhibit a white head and tail, with a brown body. So, these pie-bald eagles have become known by the shorter version of the term, Bald Eagles.
There are at least 10 Bald Eagle nests in Santa Rosa County, Florida according to the Florida Wildlife Commission. I see them pretty regularly around the Garcon Point Bridge, so there must be a pair that calls home nearby. People see them on the Blackwater and regularly flying over the Gulf Breeze peninsula. I saw several in Alaska on a fishing trip last year and a bunch every year on the Buffalo River in Arkansas. As a kid who grew up in the 80s, I will always marvel at their comeback story.
I wouldn’t have seen it if I hadn’t looked up. He was there, soaring the February blue Florida skies, but unless you took a second to avert your gaze from ground level, you would miss it. Sometimes, we need to look up to catch a glimpse of greatness.
The Bible is full of looking up moments. Abraham “looked up” to see his visit from the Lord (Genesis 18:2). Joshua “looked up” to see the angelic commander of the Lord’s armies and was ordered to take off his sandals in the holy moment on holy ground (Joshua 5:13). David recognized the need to change one’s gaze in order to find rescue as he wrote “I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord” Psalm 121:1-2 (NIV). Jesus “looked up toward heaven” as he blessed the bread and fish that would feed 5,000 (Mark 6:41).
Perhaps looking up could be a theme for us today, too. We need to focus down enough to see our next steps and avoid some pitfalls, but we could all benefit from looking up a little more. When you find yourself looking down, feeling down, having been put down, remember that the sky is the limit. Look up and you just might see that things may be getting better. You’re not going to see many soaring eagles if you keep looking down on the world. Instead, take a moment to stretch your neck and you just might see that things are looking up!