-- Guest Contribution --

I have always been fascinated with bald eagles. Strong. Striking. Beautiful. When I was still working, my office walls and shelves were home to stuffed bald eagles, paintings of bald eagles, bald eagle coffee cups.  Even now, my bald eagles live in just about every room of the house.

A hundred years ago, the magnificent bird was common, including in my home state of Virginia and along the Potomac River from West Virginia to the Chesapeake Bay.  But the population began dropping after the 1940s, and by the mid-1970s, when I was a young teen, it was unheard of to spot the soaring white-capped avian anywhere in the Washington, D.C. area.  In 1978, the bald eagle was placed on the endangered species list for the contiguous 48 states.  It so happens that 1978 was pretty much the year that I placed my relationship with God on the “endangered” list as well.

In the late 1980s and 1990s, pairs of nesting eagles began to slowly return to the Potomac River.  I have memories of sitting by the shore, across from a massive nest, waiting for mama and papa to reveal themselves.  And I would follow their glide through the sky!  Then, in 2007, the bald eagle was removed from the endangered species list.  That was also the year that my husband of 25 years announced that he wanted a divorce.  I was blindsided.  It felt like the rug was pulled out from under my life and that everything was … well … unstable.  Thankfully, by this time, I had begun to restore my relationship with God.  No matter, I still could not wholly function.  One day at the beginning of January 2008, I felt I had no choice but to take a medical leave of absence from work.  It happened so fast: one minute I was in my doctor’s office, the next in my boss’s office, and then in my car driving home, leaving all of my eagles on the shelves and walls behind me for the next several weeks.  I got home feeling rather confused and helpless.  As I walked to our mailbox, my eyes were drawn to the sky and there -- right there circling over suburbia – was a bird flashing a white head and tail.  I immediately felt that God had sent it to let me know He was with me and that I was going to be okay.

Over the next several years, there were times when I would be struggling with life on life’s terms, and a bald eagle would suddenly appear.  Although it was more and more common to see these noble creatures while hiking in nearby parks, each time one appeared during a difficult time, I believed it was God reassuring me that all was well.  One time, while on a hike during the pandemic, I had a “Discovery Channel experience” of watching mama and papa eagle coming out of nowhere to chase an osprey away from their two eaglets sitting in a nest. 

As I was pondering these sightings one day, I was reminded that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, taught that his sheep follow him "because they know His voice." (John 10:4)  Yes!  And I know His voice because He speaks in a “language” that I will recognize.  Those eagles. 

And then months passed when I did not see a single eagle.  When I needed to know that God was near, I would search the trees and the skies.  I got nothing.  It finally occurred to me that I was treating God like a circus animal, expecting Him to perform on command.  I began to embrace in my heart what I already knew in my head: God is always there, always working things out for His will and my good – even when I don’t see it.  I have no business asking Him to show Himself in a specific way at a specific time, when what I should be doing is acknowledging His presence all of the time.

In the last few months, bald eagles have returned to my life – they soar overhead, they sit in the trees.  They still fascinate me.  But I don’t need to see them to know that God is with me.  I understand now that it is not what I actually see that evidences that all is well; it is instead my spiritual posture – a posture of faith – that opens me to the comfort of the Lord.  For faith is "being certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1) 

I believe that God has been telling me all along that when the noise and chaos of this world distract me from what is important and cause me to turn to my left or to my right, there is one simple thing I must do.  Look up.

JMD, a Guest Contributor (Sterling, Virginia, U.S.)