Manifesting

Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen. Remember how he told you… – Luke 24:5-6

There is a specific form of hope that is a type of wishful thinking, bordering on magic that birders often engage. As a means of invoking whatever powers may be available, a birder will sometimes name out loud the bird they most desire in order that it may manifest. Sometimes it happens, primarily because the bird named is expected just simply not yet on that day’s list. But when a bird does manifest, it only enhances the lore, emboldening the group to raise their expectations. Things often escalate, from Least Bittern to Magnificent Frigatebird in mere moments. At that point the spell is likely to be broken by someone asking for an Ivory-billed Woodpecker or Great Auk.

While this is mostly fun and games, there is something to be said for the power of expectations. Clearly, there is no way you will find what you don’t seek, so the question is how high do you set the bar? With birding, the sky’s the limit (pun intended), or at least it should be. Why not take on each day expecting the best? There is profound truth in the statement, “if you think you can’t, you are right.”

Too often, the way that faith is understood in the religious context is limited to believing in the supernatural. The true power of faith is more akin to wishing for rare birds by believing the unbelievable. Consider how the disciples were caught looking for the living among the dead. It is not that they thought Jesus was alive and were looking in the wrong place, they were looking for a dead Jesus because they couldn’t bring themselves to believe what he had told them. Whatever the disciples experienced when they encountered the resurrected Jesus, they nearly missed it because they couldn’t conceive of it. The end of that story is that Jesus leaves this world, leaving us to encounter him in very different ways. He did leave us a map: look in hospitals and prisons, look among those in need of food and clothing. I can’t tell you specifics, that is your journey, but I can promise that you can manifest the divine in your life, but only if you have the audacity to believe that it is possible.

Prayer: Divine Surpriser, help us believe that when we seek we will find. Amen.