Failing Forward Part 2 Series

Feathers grow back

Failing Forward

Turning Defeat into Dividends

INTRODUCTION

Good morning. We continue on our topic about eagle's anointing. This month's theme is about Feathers growing back.

Every living being experience a process called molting. Molting process is a biology term which means “to lose a covering of skin, hair, feathers, etc., and replace it with new growth in the same place.

Even us human being undergoes this process although we seldom notice it. We lose our hair and our skin on a regular basis.

Our skin is the largest organ on your body, made up of several different components, including water, protein, lipids, and different minerals and chemicals. If you're average, your skin weighs about six pounds. It's job is crucial: to protect you from infections and germs. Throughout your life, your skin will change constantly, for better or worse. In fact, your skin will regenerate itself approximately every 27 days. Proper skin care is essential to maintaining the health and vitality of this protective organ.

The average person loses an average of 50 to 100 hairs from the head every day.You have about 100,000 scalp hairs that follow a predictable cycle of growing (anagen phase), stopping growth (catagen phase) and resting (telogen phase). It is when hairs are in a resting phase that they eventually fall out.

It is different for reptiles and a bird to undergo this process.

For Eagles...

The Eagle is the most majestic bird in the sky, but something happens to all Eagles at least once in their lifetime, they molt. In the life of every Eagle, they will go through a molting process that can bring with it a great depression. This is a wilderness time that all eagles will face. Certain eagles live for about 30 years or more but then they begin to lose their feathers, Their beak and claws begin to alter as well. The experts tell us that during this time, the eagle will walk like a turkey and they has no strength at all to fly. The molting eagle finds himself in the valley, unable to fly, with its feathers falling out. They lose their ability to see, as well, their vision weakens during this time. Calcium builds up on their beaks and they can't hold their heads up. Now this is so traumatic, to the proud majestic birds that Eagles truly are. They lose their desire to eat, they only eat fresh meat and they have no strength to hunt.. But then another phenomenon takes place. When the molting eagle gets in this last state, often times they will begin to peck on each other, occasionally killing another molting eagle, as they gather together in one place. Now listen to this, at this time they will choose some area of a mountain range where the sun can shine directly on them, and they will lie on a rock and bathe in the sun. During this time some have observed other eagles coming and dropping food to the ones going through this "molting" stage. Yet its never the younger eagles that are dropping the food, it is always the older eagles that have survived this experience and know what the "molting" eagle is going through. One writer, with knowledge of these things states...

"It is a most pathetic sight to see. Four or five eagles molting in the valley, where they once would only soar over to look for fresh kill. But, If they don't renew, they will die. "

They grow weaker and weaker. Suddenly there comes a sound from the sky over the valley. Screaming loudly, another group of eagles fly overhead and drop fresh meat over the dying birds. The screaming is encouragement. That's what they reckon; the screaming is encouragement from other Eagles who have already gone through this. Some eat and recover but others roll over and die. Don't you think all of this speaks of something in our Christian lives as well? There is a time in the life of The Christian believer When it looks as though, and it seems as though. They've been stripped down to nothing.

For reptiles...

The most familiar example of moulting in reptiles is when snakes "shed their skin". This is usually achieved by the snake rubbing its head against a hard object, such as a rock (or between two rocks) or piece of wood, causing the already stretched skin to split. At this point, the snake continues to rub its skin on objects, causing the end nearest the head to peel back on itself, until the snake is able to crawl out of its skin, effectively turning the moulted skin inside-out. This is similar to how one might remove a sock from one's foot by grabbing the open end and pulling it over itself. The snake's skin is often left in one piece after the moulting process, including the discarded brille (ocular scale), so that the moult is vital for maintaining the animal's quality of vision. Conversely, the skins of lizards generally fall off in pieces.