Proverbs 30:19 - “The way of an eagle in the air is too wonderful to understand.”

David Kline, in his book “Great Possessions” dares edit Scripture by adding, “I would include the peregrine as well.” Mr. Kline would find no argument with any theologian or God Himself as the birds of the air routinely manifest their Creator as the Source of their ways and abilities. There is a jet that has unique maneuverability to hover and I wonder if it was coincidentally named the Harrier Jet because it mimics the Harrier Hawk’s ability to maneuver so well in capturing its prey as it sweeps down showing a low V formation of its wings. There is also a Kestral jet, but for some reason in the references found on the Internet, or coincidental notes no mention was given about (its name) having any origin with antics and flying abilities of a Kestral Hawk. Perhaps some engineers (or inventors) would rather have us think they originated such abilities instead of copying the way of birds in the air.

David Kline’s quiet classic, “Great Possessions” is a book that ought to be a “must read” for anyone who works in the field, in the forest – really in any part of “nature”. Mr. Kline makes the world of nature live in his book of 235 pages.

Where man ever got the idea or inkling to call animals “dumb” is beyond me. It is probably just as inaccurate when they used to call deaf people, “deaf and dumb” – only ignorance of the facts would cause naming a disadvantaged person “dumb” just because he couldn’t hear or speak. We live in the same illogical world when people observe another individual who has no control over his body because of jerks, tics or spasms that make the person appear “abnormal”. In reality the cause of such spasmodic and uncontrollable movement is so small it takes an electron microscope to find the real problem. Persons who have such physical conditions can see, think and hear – they simply cannot control the spasmodic movements of their body.

It ought to be reassuring to discover Solomon, the son of King David, was a bird-watcher. Of all the attributes and abilities of Solomon it is no accident that he took the time to observe nature. The way of the eagle and a snake as they journey over and across over an apparently trackless route is truly a wonder to observe. Migratory birds fly thousands of miles over land and water to make their winter homes in locations as far away as Central and South America. They do this without an Atlas road map picked up at the service station (like auto travelers have done for years). Again, they are not “dumb animals”; they sometimes choose routes in the same manner of convenience humans would by staying close to visible ground references rather than flying over one of the Great Lakes for example. The migration of our winged friends is closely watched and studied by bird-watchers nationwide in the migratory routes.

Groups of conservation-minded people purchased hundreds of acres in the migratory paths so the mindless slaughter of hawks could be brought to a halt. Kline explains, “Before the founding of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, the sandstone outcrops were the favorite hiding places for local gunners who lay in wait for the unsuspecting hawks as they passed close to the mountain. Hundreds of hawks would be killed in a single day…” Thanks to the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary this carnage was stopped. Years ago a young boy was supposed to have said, “God doesn’t make junk.” And neither does God make anything – hawks, skunks, snakes, spiders, etc., without a purpose. Man has typically tried to get rid of things he knows little or nothing about. “Step on it, kill it, “ is the mental message recorded in the minds of the uninformed. Because of education and increased wisdom, laws have been made to protect the birds of prey and other scavengers that “clean up our earth” – but there is still confusion as to what creatures on earth should be called “dumb”, man or the animals.

David Kline further educates us: “The migration begins in late August and early September with the bald eagles and ospreys on their way to the gulf coast. By mid-September, the broad-winged hawks appear, sometimes in immense numbers at the points of concentration. At Hawk Ridge in Duluth, for example, approximately 24,000 broadwings were counted on September 22, 1970. And on September 14, 1979, 21, 448 of these small soaring hawks passed Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania!”

It is refreshing and should create a spirit of gratefulness that some people take bird-watching serious enough to keep such records. It is also refreshing, as David writes in the chapter, Autumn Hawk Flights, “It is good that hawks and eagles are now protected by federal and state laws, and that as the majestic birds wing their way south every autumn, they are greeted with binoculars instead of guns.”

THE WORDWRIGHT

“Great Possessions” An Amish Farmer’s Journal by David Kline was published by North Point Press, New York. ISBN 0-86547-471-0 Copyrighted 1990 by David Kline - Unfortunately, according to my brief search this book is no longer in print. Keep your eyes open at used book stores or local yard sales. If you want an eye opener of the worth of the book, go to Amazon.Com and ask for this book. Date on our copy is 1995.