There was a gosling born at the retention pond right next to my apartment complex. By all metrics, his parents had chosen a great place to raise their young gosling. The lawns were manicured. The surrounding dogs were leashed. The pond itself was treated and stocked. The weather was warm. It was perfect. For a while, the gosling was nothing more a little feathered thing, nestled under his mother’s wing. Soon he began to grow. Each day, I watched as he gained more and more independence. First, he’d peck at the ground next to his mother. A few days later, he dipped his webbed feet into the water for the first time. A few days after that he took his first swim. It was beautiful to see him maturing and developing. Another thing was happening though as this baby gosling grew. There was a man who lived in the 1st floor apartment right next to the pond. His porch was right up against the nesting spot that the geese had chosen to raise their gosling at. Each day, the man would sit on his porch and throw bits of bread onto the lawn.
The gosling loved it. The bread was tasty. The bread was plentiful. The man wanted the gosling to stay, so he continued to feed them. This went on for weeks. As those weeks passed, and the gosling continued to grow, it developed angel wing syndrome. The rich, processed, human bread wasn’t good for the gosling, and the nutrients that the gosling absorbed from this bread caused its wing to grow deformed. You can this now-grown gosling in the picture. It’s the middle goose.
Its been about 3 months. The gosling should be learning to fly now. I’ve watched as the parents flap their wings, eager to take to the skies with their youngling. The gosling will attempt to flap his wings, but it is evident that the motion isn’t correct. The geese are slowly understanding that something isn’t correct. As the winter approaches, a decision will have to be made. Geese are familial birds. Mates mate for life. Parents and children form bonds. The parents will have to make the hard decision to migrate without their gosling. He will not be able to fly with them. There will come a day where he will have to watch as they take off and leave him behind. He will most likely have to endure winter alone. Maybe people will continue to feed him. Maybe not. Maybe he will survive the cold. Maybe not. He will probably never mate. All because of some bits of bread.
Let’s think about this in the context of our lives. Many parents want to put their kids in a good place to thrive, much like that gosling. Parents want their kids to have the best life has to offer. All the toys, food, clothes, and activities one could possibly enjoy. As they grow, we may pay for their schooling, provide them with cars, push them into sports, and challenge them to excel. Why? Because we want them to enjoy life and be fulfilled in it. Sometimes we neglect to see the person feeding them the enriched bread. It’s tasty. It’s plentiful. But it’s also deadly. It sustains them for a time, but it also prevents them from reaching their full potential. Are you watching out for them? Perhaps it’s the influence of a friend, a professor, or a coach. Maybe it’s the media that you’re allowing to be beamed into their brains from the TV, the iPad, or the phone. After all, validation from others is addictive. Finding community and self-worth online is addictive. And anyone can do it. The opportunities are plentiful to fall into these traps. Don’t allow it.
Instead, push your children to find their purpose, validation, and self-worth in the eyes of their Heavenly Father. Through his son, Jesus Christ, we all can have the true Bread of eternal life. This is the bread that won’t stunt you or harm you. Instead, it will encourage, enliven, and energize you. Indeed, Isaiah 40:31 rings true. “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” This is what each of us should want for our friends, family, parents, children, coworkers, and all those that God places in our path.
Next time your tempted to just give in to the bread of this world, I pray that you would think about the gosling.