On Either Side Of The Bridge

It was the perfect spring day.
The sky was a brilliant blue.
Not one cloud could be seen.
The humidity was low and there was a wonderful breeze.

I enjoy these kind of days.
If I could place an order for a picture perfect day, it would be a day just like this one.
I was approaching the bridge that I cross over every day as I travel to the main road.
I like to look out over the lake as I drive across.

If I could paint, it would be this scene that I would paint first.
The painting would be called, Serenity.
That title is fitting.
That word captures the feeling of this place.

My husband kayaks on this lake.
This day I saw quite a few people kayaking.
I saw some men in their fishing boats.
I saw the lush green trees all along the water’s edge.

Something caught my eye.
Turkey buzzards were flying overhead.
They were hovering over the road.
They were in a circle.

I thought of the classic movie scene in a cowboy Western.
The cowboy is in the desert without water or food.
The vultures are circling overheard.
Th cowboy shakes his fist at the vultures and cries out, I’m not dead yet.

I thought of that classic scenes as I watched the vultures circling.
It was almost as if the bridge railing was the boundary line.
To the right of the railing, the pristine lake whispered, Serenity.
To the left of the railing, the vultures waited patiently for their food.

Vultures are carnivorous and eat carrion almost exclusively. They prefer fresh meat but can consume carcasses that may have rotted so much that the meat can be toxic to other animals. This gives vultures a unique and important ecological role because they help prevent the spread of diseases from old, rotting corpses. Vultures have excellent senses of sight and smell to help them locate food, and they can find a dead animal from a mile or more away. Because of this, vultures often have large territories and spend a lot of time soaring to locate their next meal. It is a myth that vultures circle dying animals waiting to feed. These birds are powerful fliers and soar on thermals while they look for food, but they cannot sense when an animal is dying. When they locate a carcass by smell, sight or the sound of other birds feeding, they approach it quickly before other predators find it.
(https://www.thespruce.com/fun-facts-about-vultures)

I immediately thought that something must be dead on the lake shore.
I wondered where the carcass might be.
I looked at the cool water lapping gently along the water’s edge.
I looked at the black vultures in the sky.

When I researched vultures, I learned that they hover in order to find food.
They are not waiting for something to die.
They are searching for something that is already dead.
I learned that the turkey buzzard will fly lower than the black vultures.

The turkey buzzard actually finds the food.
The black vultures wait until the food is found and then they pounce on it.
If you look closely at a circle of vultures, one will always be flying a bit lower.
Vultures are very patient birds.

There was a line between life and death.
There was a line between stillness and constant motion.
The bridge was the line.
The bridge was the line between two very different worlds.

 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather. (Matthew 24:28)

The bridge symbolized more to me as I drove along.
I want people to know Jesus so that they are on the side of Life.
I want them to be filled with Living Water. (John 7:38)
I want them to experience the peace that passes all understanding. (Philippians 4:7)

I want them to know serenity and surety. (Isaiah 32:17)
I want them to know the joy of their salvation. (Psalm 51:12)
I want them to be alive in Christ. (Ephesians 2:5)
I want them to really live not for themselves but for Him. (2 Corinthians 5:15)

I do not want people to be on the side of death.
I do not want the vultures to gather searching for food that has already died.
I do not want people to live eternally separated from God.
I want the Bridge to be a way across from death to life.

Jesus is that Bridge.
Jesus is the Way to cross over from death to life.
Driving over the bridge, I prayed.
Lord Jesus, I want them to know You.