Do Turkeys Speak?

“God is speaking. Are you listening?” While driving home those words from the radio jolted my mind.

The Bible says of God: “How faint the whisper we hear of Him.” And now the radio confirmed I had heard the soft-spoken voice of God in my heart.

Minutes earlier I had been traveling the opposite direction on an errand. Wet and blowing snow necessitated reduced speeds. Then just ahead a pheasant appeared in the road. Suddenly it crossed from the opposite lane into my path. With weather conditions, the “thump’ was inevitable. In immediate succession a huge wild turkey flew almost over my car.

Mixed with the remorse of killing an animal, I thought, “What are the odds of this strange unfolding of events?” Astronomical odds…

Arriving at my destination, I sat in my car wanting to decipher this episode. God spoke. Not audibly. I was the turkey. As in: “You’re a turkey.” A quirky term for expressing inappropriate behavior. A sickening, compassionate feeling for the plight of the struck pheasant had instantly inundated me. Nothing wrong with this.

My problem? Too often I lack appropriately compassionate reaction towards human beings.

This had happened about an hour prior. An older lady, I had known years ago, was waiting outside in the cold for a ride. I offered her a ride. But the compassion and concern I felt for her was dim. The offer mostly reflected a felt obligation. Really, I was relieved when she said: “No, I’m fine.”

The Bible say: “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”

God…forgive me. I don’t want to be nothing. God help me to change.