The Albatross. I thought this animal was a myth. Never having been to the South Pacific nor the Southern Oceans I had not seen this bird in action. The Albatross is majestic, graceful, and everything I would aspire to be. For the longest time, I identified with the Red Tailed Hawk and the Harpy Eagle. Nature itself is pure and the characteristics of animals are not wavering. May not be my spirit animal but I appreciate the exactness of these creatures.
Scripture speaks to being raised up on Eagle’s wings, specifically Isaiah 40:31, "But those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.” The Albatross is a different reminder of what it looks like to trust the Lord. Prepare for a relative metaphor to our current present state in modern society. I understand that was a lot of words strung together but, I do mean, our current present state - that of the Church/Bride of Christ and those who are indeed searching for Truth and trusting the Lord in modern society, of which we are familiar if you are a Global Citizen.
The Albatross soars with an 11-foot wingspan covering long distances without technically flying but a mere percentage of travel. It takes flight primarily for food and travels thousands of miles round trip to bring back findings for their chicks. In the cursory research I did, the birds mate for life, are adorable, and are presently faced with two challenges. The first challenge which we can relate to is, eating junk. The trash issue has caused the deaths of albatrosses because they are incapable of distinguishing the items in the ocean from actual food. Nobody has taught the bird how to avoid eating garbage. The notion itself is preposterous, how would anyone do that, to begin with, and then how would you even start? Behavioral therapy for the albatross coming to a liberal arts school near you! The fact that we cannot ask that question really is due to the problem holistically. We wade in our own garbage and ignore the consequence to the constant feeding mouths around us. In the world of social engagement, another man’s trash is not often someone’s treasure. Mangled truth is toxic.
Writers have a known responsibility to write down the truth. Perhaps the truth they are communicating is a debatable topic, but it is at the end the author's word. Artists, educators, and ideally public officials are responsible in the same thread to uphold writing and speaking the truth. We ourselves must be selective in what we intake and what we throw around. The issue for the Albatross (and ourselves) should not be, how do we teach it to distinguish junk but, how do we stop polluting our ecosystems? Scripture gives continual instruction as to how the Lord wants us to steward His world. Haste and waste both are both looked at through Scripture as foolishness, and there are prescriptive words as to how to live a life modeled around the One who created all life. Distinguishing truth from garbage becomes increasingly easier the more centered you are on the ultimate Truth and therein you yourself become more of a peacemaker and truth bringer renewing ecosystems. Now maintaining that life is a constant uphill battle unless you are indeed a new creation in Christ. The substance of our lives is always lived out in the fullness of Christ.
It is not enough to distinguish truth from garbage, but we must look deeper below the surface and understand the origin of ideas. We cannot simply recognize the truth; we must also live out the truth. The second issue is one less of garbage and more of what we are possibly succumbed to if we are not watchful of connections. Albatross face an issue of being hooked and pulled under the water by long line fisherman. There have been pushes to avoid this albatrossity and I am hoping the fisherman are implementing the available tools. Albatross see the sea meals pulled across the surface of the water, dive to the fast moving and easy access meal, and then are hooked on to the fisherman’s line pulled under water where they drown. Welcome to our hyper connected society where one idea is embedded into the lines of other ideas and before you know it you are hook line and sinker in something you had never hoped or imagined.
Take in point the dual party system, a flagrant lie if you ask me, but that is up for too much debate to actually dig into right here. If you catch on to the fast moving social justice warrior movements without keen awareness on every topic and what the underlying motive or truth is, you 1) do not have time to backpedal and research because you are now caught and connected and pulled along 2) are hooked on to something you are not even aware of and 3) you are eventually pulled under the water and drowned by your own ignorance, complaceny, or general inability to free yourself without dying. In this case with SJW, drowning the part of you that would not agree with say, the disestablishment of open forum and discussion vs what you might agree with instead - the upholding of civil discourse. This extends to the workforce too, a high paying job with an easy in which has a hook of an unrealistic mindset on the workload and once you’re hooked, you’re hooked: 1) do not have time to back pedal, 2) hooked on to a lifestyle you never planned or prepared for and 3) you are eventually pulled under water and drowned by your own ignorance, complacency, or general inability to free yourself without dying. Work is good and loving doing good work is also good but the hook of upholding the faux boundary lines while enabling inefficiency and the poor work ethic of others is not. This extends to relationships, and dance parties.
I’ll leave it here - I absolutely love both the original Marvin Gaye “Got to Give it Up" and even the knock off riff made popular by “Blurred Lines”. I do not like however, any of the lyrics to “Blurred Lines”. While I am glad the artist was able to capture the aspect of reality found in the lyrics, I do not want any part of it and have no interest in promoting it. This was me on the dance floor:
*dancing* yes, this is that sweet lick - *still dancing* wait, it’s a different song - *dancing a lil different* ooo, I love what they’ve done - *dancing awkwardly* oh wait, wait what is he saying - *dancing looking for an exit on the dance floor* this, is disgusting - *watching other people still dancing* i’ll, sit and wait.
The beat is still dope but I can’t dance to those words. In a life choice where there other people involved who are not sweaty dance floor people - the graceful exiting from the floor often cannot happen without someone often shouting “Dance!” with more assumed authority. What does happen however, is a truth we are more frequented with than we may realize - sitting out because there is no other song being played. This is a responsibility of the one who holds Truth- make melody, sing a new song, and invite others to the dance.
Albatrossities, the junk and lines we sink in are at the most quite possibly the easiest to avoid. Being fattened and entangled is depending largely in part on what we are soaring. The Albatross takes flight and soars on wind currents. The original impartation of the Holy Spirit in Scripture is recorded that "suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind", and in the creation of the world it is recorded that the “Spirit of God was hovering over the waters”. This same Holy Spirit Christ refers to as “The Spirit of Truth” in John 16:13
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. He will also declare to you what is to come.
The only way to be guided into all truth is if you are not actively resisting the guidance. You must soar on the guidance of the Holy Spirit and not resist when the Holy Spirit guides you in a different direction. Be an Albatross not an albatrossity.
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