I learned many things while cruising around in a safari vehicle in Africa. I learned things from the animals of the wild that I never would have imagined. I will write about them over time, but today, I am struck by the acceptance the animals had for one another.
This picture is one of my favorites. It was as if these two were soul mates. They were comfortable with one another and were not affected at all by us onlookers.
They are so different their size, in their modes of transport, in what they eat and how they eat it. They have every reason to not enjoy one another, and yet, something about this picture communicates to me that they are doing exactly that, enjoying one another.
As I journey to my heart, I strive to live with a stance of curiosity. Curiosity about all I am experiencing. Sometimes there are questions that feel life challenging or changing. Sometimes I tuck away an experience and wonder if or how it will come back to shape my heart or mind?
As I delighted in the moment of the bird and the giraffe, I was curious if I live with the same invitation and acceptance as these two animals of God’s creation. Where do I mingle and rest with those who are very different and yet still so full of God’s design and beauty? I just may find myself defining where I am a giraffe who invites one of smaller stature but magnificence of a different kind, to rest and get a new view and where am I a bird who settles into a place of rest and enjoyment of seeing things from a perspective I can not achieve on my own…
I love the gifts God gave me in the wild of Africa….