I marvel. I shake my head in wonder. And then I consider that some day, those of us who belong to God are going to function in such unity that we will perform our tasks in one huge murmuration of praise to our God.
But that’s then. And this is now. And right now, we can’t seem to get along with anyone for any length of time. We trample on others’ feelings and ideas - because of insensitivity, because of carelessness, because of events beyond our control. And yet . . . we ourselves are easily hurt and offended and angered.
I watch this interaction of carnal human beings controlled by their carnal human nature every day with my children. Choruses of “Just be quiet!” or “Stop talking to me!” are among the kinder things I hear almost daily. This afternoon my daughter wanted to know what a rabbit hutch was. I was driving, and she couldn’t hear my answer. So my oldest son turned to tell her. She put her hands over her ears and asked me, “What, Mommy?” I told her again, but she still didn’t hear. So again, he told her exactly what I’d said. She got angry. She told him to be quiet and again asked me to tell her what a rabbit hutch is! I told her the same thing he’d just said. Then she was satisfied.
I suspect, if we had the power of flight, we’d see so many mid-air crashes that everyone would sport an arm in a cast at least twice every year! There’s no way we’d come anywhere near the marvel of murmuration.
But. Someday. Someday, when we’ve learned to bring every thought into submission to God; when we’ve learned to think of others more highly than ourselves; when we’ve learned to truly love mercy and act justly, I fully believe we’ll walk humbly with our God. And it just might look like a murmuration.