“Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks; the locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; the spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.” King Solomon is directing our attention to the animal kingdom to teach us spiritual lessons.
Let us follow his example and consider the spiritual lessons that we can learn by studying the habits of geese. They fly in a “V” formation because this creates “uplift” for the birds following and adds 71% greater range than if the bird flew alone. If a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone, and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the “lifting power” of the other birds. We can apply this principle to our lives. We all need each other. We can give each other a lift if we keep together. We can go farther and do more if we cooperate with each other.
When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies to the point. We need to learn to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. No one bird is always in the lead. We do not need to always be the front runner. Sharing the lead, sharing the responsibilities, is better for all of us. None of us is the boss, but we all need to be willing at times to accept the responsibility to buck the head winds and give lift to those who are following.
The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. We all need a word of encouragement from each other. How much encouragement do we give to those flying the point position and feeling the strain? Instead of criticizing, let us encourage each other as the geese do.
When a goose gets sick or wounded, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. How much do we care about each other? The geese will stay with the disabled goose until it is able to fly or dies. Then they will launch out to join another formation or catch up with the flock. Are we as concerned with the problems of others as are the geese? Do we sacrifice our own progress to stop and help another in distress? The geese seem to be living out the lesson that Jesus taught us in his parable of the good Samaritan.
The encyclopedia says: “The most characteristic feature of the geese is probably their closely knit family life.” Geese mate for life and “the little goslings are faithfully guarded by both parents, and the family migrates as a unit to and from the winter grounds, the young remaining with their parents until the beginning of the new breeding season.”
If we would only go to the geese, as Solomon told us to look to the ant, we would learn that marriage is for life and that we must work together, teaching our children and keeping the family unit intact.
The next time we look up and see a flock of geese flying in the “V” formation and hear their familiar honking, let us thank our Heavenly Father that in His wisdom He is teaching us to take lessons from His creatures. Our Lord has told us: “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” Let us go to the geese, consider their ways, and be wise.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One