Ko-ah Ko-ah Ko-ah

They came from all over the United States and Canada to see him. Recreational Vehicles filled the campground. In fact, we met a man from Bend Oregon who tries to see him every year. This week scores of people descended upon the Sonoita Creek inlet to Patagonia Lake to see him. Elvis? Hardly. The King of Rock and Roll pales in comparison. No he is the Elegant Trogon, a very rare tropical bird whose habitat extends to southern Arizona. And this week he showed up at Patagonia Lake to the delight of Bird-Watchers across the Americas.

We had planned to fish at Patagonia. But the fishing was bad and the campground was abuzz about the Trogon. So we walked to the east end of Patagonia Lake to see him. As we passed people on the trail, the reply was often the same. “He’s up there”. No mention of who the “he” was. It wasn’t necessary. Everyone was here to see the Trogon. When we finally found him there were a number of bird-watchers staring at him through binoculars. That was a sight in itself.

The Trogon has a green head and a red belly. A white collar goes around his neck. He has a black face and his back is a shimmering green. He apparently loves to be photographed because he flitted from branch to branch so that the photographers could get a better shot. He was truly elegant.
There were other birds in the area, also. The Vermillion Flycatcher was deep red and the Yellow Warblers were a beautiful bright yellow. The Canyon Wren looked just like the cactus wren – brown and spotted but had a unique call. There were hundreds of other birds, probably generic finches and swallows. But nobody was really interested in them.

I wonder how the generic finch felt. People by the dozens passed him by. He is one of God’s creations, too, but not near as splendid. Just your average, old, bird. Nuthin’ to drive miles for.

I recently saw a speech from a spectacularly beautiful woman about her life as a fashion model. She mentioned many times that she is just a normal girl who just happened to win the gene pool lottery. Without her makeup she does look rather normal. But all gussied up, she is definitely the Trogon of the human species.

While God created beauty, He doesn’t care too much about looks. He’s more interested in what’s on the inside. Some people win life’s gene pool lottery and some people are life’s generic finches. But Jesus loves the finches of the world as much as any other creature. Enough to give up His life And that makes us all elegant.

Blessings,
Pastor David