Two Saturday afternoons ago, while working in my backyard, I experienced an extraordinary natural wonder—the migration of the sandhill crane. An otherworldly squawking choir erupted above me, all singing in unison while majestically flying high in the sky. A holy spectacle. Thousands upon thousands of sandhill cranes, their gray and white plumed wings flapping in the wind, their long, slender necks held in an elegant s-shape, their heads crowned with a shock of red. Breath-taking to watch them against the perfect blue backdrop, soaring in and out of V formations on their way back north for the annual spring migration. Sandhill cranes have been doing this same route for millions of years, as they are one of the oldest living birds on earth. Archeologists discovered a sandhill crane fossil on the Platte River in Nebraska, a famous stop over location on their migration journey, dating over 10 million years old. What a surprise to learn that the largest congregation of sandhill cranes in the US winter in my home state of Tennessee.

That evening, I did a deep dive on the sandhill crane discovering that they are remarkably strong flyers, highly intelligent and truly resilient avian wonders. Sandhill cranes are famous for their bi-annual long migrations, some birds flying over 300 miles a day from the southern United States and Mexico up to the Great Lakes of Michigan and Canada and then back again. They can actually see the earth’s magnetic field and use it to chart their way. They also can fly non-stop without sleeping by shutting down one side of their brains and eyes for mere seconds and then switching them back on. Miraculously they adapt to life’s circumstances always flying, always persevering. Before a tough journey, their hearts, lungs, and stomachs literally expand as other organs shrink to make room. One admires the Sandhill crane for their perseverance and courage, against all odds, to stay the mission. These birds are not as fragile as they appear, neither are you and I. Any creation of God, one loved by God, is built to do hard things, with promised moments of glorious soaring.

Migratory birds have a supernatural internal road map laid down in their God-given DNA. For millions of years, these incredible birds have made these epic journeys back and forth, following the same routes as their ancestors, across hundreds, thousands of miles. Challenged by hunger, exhaustion, tornadoes and hurricanes, the sandhill crane is determined to make it to his or her destination. Many things try to throw them off course during their lives, but they always find their way back home and to what truly matters. The same is possible for you and me.

The poet Rainer Maria Rilke encourages us to embrace present life while holding fast to God and always hope. He wrote, “God speaks to each of us as he makes us, then walks with us silently out into the night. These are the words we dimly hear: You, sent out beyond your recall, go to the limits of your longing. Embody me. Flare up like flame and make big shadows I can move in. Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final. Don’t let yourself loose me. Nearby is the country they call life. You will know it by its seriousness. Give me your hand.”

We must never let go of God’s hand.

God knew that the journey here on earth would gift us much wonder, but also much challenge, calling us to reveal how courageous God made us. What God promised is that we would never fly alone. God would always be with us. God also promised that however our days unfold here on earth, our final destination has already been holy determined. God promises that we will find our way back Home, with a capital “H,” into the province of infinite joy, where there will be no more tears, only perfect peace, together with all whom we love. We experience glimmers of heaven here on earth suggesting the glory ahead. The beloved Christian writer Henri Nouwen described Home as the place where you will hear God’s voice of love calling you “my beloved” forever.

Just with the sandhill crane, I believe God has placed at our heart’s center an invisible compass that is now and forever drawing us toward a holier existence. Paul writes in Hebrews 6:19, “We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the curtain of our inner shrine.” It’s our secret superpower. For 15.6 billion years, the direction and determination of God’s story for us has never wavered. It is a universal cosmic life-death-life pattern that plays out across creation whether it is a star in the Milky Way, a prehistoric Gingko, the elegant sandhill crane or the incomparably created human being. We have been promised a fullness of life with no end. Walt Whitman proclaimed: “All goes onward and outward and nothing collapses. And to die is different from what anyone supposed, and much luckier.”

We only know a flesh and bone reality here. And so we cling to that one dimension as if it defines our only existence. We hang onto the imperfect, sometimes tragic, believing this is the only way it will ever be, but God is asking us to spread our wings and keep flying. Follow the trusted coordinates of love, mercy, and grace anticipating what God has for us next. Remember, if God gave such attention to the sandhill crane, just imagine God’s focus on you and me. May we look inside ourselves for our own God given powers and gifts and then use them to not only endure, but prevail here on earth. The love is there. So too is the courage and resilience. From that first holy breath, God has been charting a course for us toward eternity. Intuitively, in the secret of our souls, we know that God’s hand is upon us, and that one day all will come together for good.

Hallelujah for a hope that promises not to disappoint! 

Enjoy Glorious by MaMuse below!