February 14 2018 – Click here to listen
I was running late for an important meeting one morning due to my having lost track of time while spending an inordinate amount of time trying to catch up on a boatload of e-mail that came in while out of town.
I hate to be late, (it’s rude), and I’m obsessive about arriving early for appointments, especially if it’s a vitally important meeting. I rushed like a madman to get there and was completely out of breath and not in all that good of a mood and feeling harried when I hastily took my seat.
I’d just barely settled in when suddenly Tom started yelling at me the top of his lungs. Late or not, he misjudged me badly if he thought I was just going to just sit there and take that junk without responding. I answered him right back, but he yelled again! I tried answering softly this time, but he yelled again – Finally I just said to heck with that and picked up my gun and shot him right in the head and killed him!
Tom is the big two bearded gobbler that I bagged that morning.
Got ya!
Yep turkey season is fast approaching and it’s a really neat way to spend some time. It’s so much fun in fact that I go every day of the season, (unless of course it’s pouring down rain or if I’m out of town speaking). There is something magical about watching the sun come up in the morning and seeing and hearing God’s creatures welcome it with a plethora of chirping birds, raucous crows scolding screaming hawks, and donkeys braying in the distance, but nothing is more exciting than hearing the bone jarring gobble of a big Tom turkey looking for love on a crisp spring morning.
Right after daylight that day I heard no less than five gobblers announcing that they were on the market and ready for love. I answered with my lustiest hen yelp call which told them exactly where I was, and that I too was ready, willing, and able, and it was time to, “Come and get it”.
Moments later my big gobbler arrived, haughtily walking towards me like he was “King of the Road”. He was all puffed up with tail fanned out, strutting and beating his wings on the ground announcing to all the hens within range, “Hey girls look at me, I be stylin’ and profilin.”
I managed a couple more extra sexy, very soft pleading purrs and subdued yelps to stroke that big ego. It worked! He hastily ambled right into range of my Benelli 12 GA. Camo shotgun and KA – BOOM.
I suppose he wanted to be knocked off his feet with a different kind of love than I expressed, but as that great old Rolling Stones song goes, “We can’t always get what
we want”.
So what does all of this have to do with God?
Well for one thing God created the black velvet star studded night that I stared at until it gave way to the beautiful golden sunrise that morning. It was fabulously beautiful that day as its rays illuminated the gorgeous woodlands rendering divine colors that even the most talented artist could recreate. And the warm sun took the chill out of the morning to the point that a couple of times I closed my eyes like an old dog as it beamed down on my tired old body. It felt good.
God also created all those wonderful creatures that I heard and saw, including scampering squirrels, lazily flying herons, a multitude of birds, frogs, and even what sounded like a bellowing gator in the distance.
Why did God create all this splendor? For His enjoyment and ours. The Bible teaches that God is love. My plantation at Honey Lake and all those other drop dead gorgeous places are an expression of God’s love and I love Him and I love this land that He created.
God of course is no single faceted God, and I’ve found that He rarely does anything to achieve a singular purpose. God’s glory emanates from his creation as a testimony to His being. Those ignorant atheists that seem to delight in sending me hate mail should fight off their hangovers one morning and get up at dawn and sit in the woods and watch God bring it to life. They can just leave that joint in their pockets, because God’s glory will supply all the high that they need.
And all the PETA crowd morons can just leave their bunny-hugging whining at the door. God gave us dominion over every seed-bearing plant, fruit, beast of the earth, bird in the sky, and all creatures that move along the ground, and everything that lives. Part of managing wildlife is to harvest and sportsmen perform that extraordinarily well. Game populations far exceed those that were here when this country was founded, and it is because of proper management techniques of providing food, cover, and yes harvesting.
Have a great day today and enjoy God’s beautiful morning and all that he’s created. Quit your complaining and moaning and for crying out loud look around at your free gifts from almighty God. He is great, and He loves us!
Oops, where did the time go? It’s already getting near dawn; don’t want to be late for
my sailfish excursion this morning . . . Don’t worry PETA catch and release only on
sailfish today . . .
Gen. 1:29
Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth
and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground – everything that has the breath of life in it – I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning . . .