Although it cannot fly, no bird can match the 345-pound, 8foot tall ostrich of Africa for size and strength. And a rider on a horse cannot match its 40-miles-per-hour running speed. The female, called a dun, lays as many as 10 ivory-colored eggs in a hole scraped in the sand. Each egg is 24 times as large as a hen’s egg! She sits on them during the day or leaves them exposed to the hot sun. The male takes over incubating them at night.
The ostrich is a very hardy bird; some live up to 70 years. Those in the wild usually live in flocks of 100 or more and peacefully share the open spaces with zebras, giraffes and other animals. If necessary, they defend themselves with their strong legs - a well-directed kick either kills or discourages any attacker.
The ostrich walks with an almost-mechanical appearance because of its long, bare legs with ankles like knees and its manner of walking on the two padded toes of each foot. Short, heavily feathered wings give it a football-shaped body, and its bulky, feathered tail looks like it was just stuck on to help balance it. Topping its unusual appearance is a long, featherless neck with a flat, hairy head, bulgy eyes with long eyelashes and a wide beak.
Visitors to ostrich farms are amused to watch an ostrich swallow an unpeeled orange. Down its long neck goes the orange, the bulge visible all the time through its skin as it spirals around, until it disappears at the bottom. The birds are also sometimes tamed and ridden by people brave enough to try. But, as no saddle is provided, it takes an experienced person to be able to ride very far without sliding off over its tail.
Why do you think the Lord God created such an unusual bird? We might ask the same question about some unusual fish or the platypus or an opossum or strange insects or other unusual birds. Do you suppose that as the Supreme Designer of the universe it was never His purpose to make every animal, fish, bird or even every person alike? How monotonous that would be! The same is true of flowers, vegetables and trees. How grateful we should be that He included such a wide difference in all He has made - another example of His wisdom.
And let us also remember that He did not leave room for improvement on anything He created. No, after every part of creation was brought into being, the Bible tells us, “God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:3131And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31)). No improvements have been necessary.
AUGUST 20, 2000
ML-08/20/2000