This Is What My Peaceful Doves Have Taught Me – Will I Heed The Lessons? Part 2 Of 2 Series

THIS IS WHAT MY PEACEFUL DOVES HAVE TAUGHT ME – WILL I HEED THE LESSONS? PART 2 OF 2

This is PART 2 of the message on doves. The peaceful dove (zebra doves in the USA – exotic bird) is an Australian native. See PART 1 for the introduction to this story. We have been looking at Lessons we can learn from these doves.

God’s creation is marvellous, so it is no wonder that biblical writers make common references to nature – the birds, animals, insects, etc. These creatures are used to teach lessons or are used in parables. Do you recall Solomon who wrote, “Go to the ant, you sluggard,” when making references to lazy people?

We now continue looking at the Lessons we can learn.

7. RISE UP AND WORK! The parasitic “Pseudolychia canariensis”. All these doves have that parasite fly in the Hippoboscidae family, known as “the lousy fly” or “louse fly”. I saw them early on at the start running over the backs of the doves and then disappearing under their wings, but had no idea what they were until I did a lot of research. They move from one dove to another; pigeons have them too, and if they get dislodged they quickly find another host. Both adult males and females feed on the blood of their host. The feet are adapted for clinging to, and moving through the plumage and pelage of their hosts. Strongly specialised claws help them cling to the hair or feathers of their particular host species.

Hippoboscids will bite humans when given no other choice of host, and their bites are definitely itchy, but the flies did not survive long or reproduce when fed only human blood. Despite their mobility, they rarely spend any time off of their hosts. A fly dislodged from its host will quickly fly back to it, or the next closest host. Their bodies are distinctly flattened (from back to belly), as if someone had dropped a book on them. This flat body shape allows them to slide between the feathers and scuttle around in the fur of their hosts. Their shape and tough exoskeletons also make them hard to squish, both for their hosts and for the humans that study them. According to one scientist who has worked on hippoboscids, you can’t just smack them, you have to “roll them between your fingers” to kill them.

No parasite is good. God did not create human beings to be parasites, living off others, but ordered it that after the fall we work for our living “by the sweat of our brow”. Christians must not be parasites, living off their families or off the government, as that can’t be a good witness and must displease the Lord. No one who makes a living bludging off others can really have a good conscience about it.

Those who want to be “lousy flies” in churches are the ones who leave all the work to others and exist off the free will and Christian grace of believers. There is work to be done but these “flies” sit back and watch others do it, and take the benefits from it. In a team of 12 bullocks, if 11 pull the load and one is “free loading” then it puts extra strain on the others, and in churches, God’s willing ones have extra burdens.

What a practical this revelation is – {{2Thessalonians 3:10-12 “Even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone will not work, neither let him eat, for we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.”}}

Paul is definite about this working principle. He would not have stood for parasites. We should all know, this has nothing to do with people who are ill and disabled, physically and mentally, or who have lost their jobs, and those categories should be covered in Christian and church support. The verses apply to the “parasite”. Isn’t it true that those who are lazy and unwilling to work for their living, have time on their hands to mind other people’s business and interfere in the concern of others, and are trouble makers.

8. THERE IS SOMETHING STRANGE ABOUT YOU! The other day a dove turned up but it was not quite “right”. It appeared to be a bit of a mutant. It seemed to be a cross between a peaceful dove and some similar dove, but I can not find any “similar dove” in my specialised bird books. Its head is smaller, more elongated; bigger beak; not quite the feather patterning of the true peaceful dove. Around the eyes is darker, and eyes are bigger. Let’s say it is a mystery. It was shy at first and hung back and others tried to reject it, but it comes close to my feet readily now. The other doves squabbled with it a bit and now accept it, but it tries to fit in and can be pushy like the others. Maybe it is learning their habits. It has become one of the first to arrive so it is not as shy as others.