Good morning…
As the Spirit of God carries us through our daily lives, we naturally, collectively migrate toward the all-inclusive, never-ending, gracious love of God. Our great spiritual migration mirrors a mysterious phenomenon called murmuration.
A murmuration is large group of birds, usually starlings, that all fly together, swooping, dipping, changing direction unexpectedly. As starlings return to their winter roost in a swirl after feeding, their murmurations are one of the most dazzling displays in the natural world.
Exactly how does a murmuration work? As I researched this question, I happened upon an intriguing fact from howstuffworks.com.
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In 2013, a mechanical and aerospace engineer and her team from Princeton collaborated with physicists in Italy to study murmurations. “In a flock with 1,200 birds, it is clear that not every bird will be able to keep track of the other 1,199 birds,” Naomi Leonard, the Princeton engineer, said back then, “so an important question is ‘Who is keeping track of whom?'”
The Italian physicists used more than 400 photos from several videos to find out, plotting the position and speed of birds as they flocked. From that, they built a mathematical model that identified the optimal number of flock-mates for each bird to track.
Turns out the magic number is seven: Each bird keeps tabs on its seven closest neighbors and ignores all else. Considering all these little groups of seven touch on other individuals and groups of seven, twists and turns quickly spread. And from that, a whole murmuration moves.
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We cannot keep track of all of the “1,199-plus people” in God’s big, wide world. So who do we keep tabs on, as we move through our ordinary days?
Turns out the magic answer is seven, seven people with whom we are most intimately connected in this very moment. Might each of us care well for our seven closest soulmates today, ignoring those breaking off in a different direction, trusting God to keep track of “all else”? Our group of seven will touch other groups of seven, twisting, turning, traveling with the Spirit. Fully engaged in this fluid intimacy, our whole murmuration dances gracefully together with the God who created each person and the wind.
Look at the birds in the sky. They do not store food for winter. They don’t plant gardens. They do not sow or reap—and yet, they are always fed because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are even more precious to Him than a beautiful bird. If He looks after them, of course He will look after you (Matthew 6:26, VOICE).
Let’s send silent prayers to our seven soulmates, as we marvel at the mystery of murmuration caught on film.
…Sue…
