When the Eagles Fly
(Picture from Recreation.gov)

It was not all that long ago, in either historic time or my own lifetime, that the American Bald Eagle, the majestic and awe-inspiring bird, our national emblem, was a seriously endangered species. People would travel miles, and squint through binoculars, to see this amazing bird as a little speck off in the distance. I remember scanning the skies at Hawk Mountain along a bird of prey migration route in Pennsylvania hoping to see one way out there. I never did. They were too few and far between.

But thank God for conservation and the endangered species act! With careful and concerned management and planning, with hard work rebuilding and protecting habitats, the Bald Eagle is again flying in many places. I know because I saw two this week.

One was on Monday while sitting in my office in the Twin Cities suburb of Edina. Glancing out the north facing picture window of our group room I saw the familiar outline of a black bird of prey. As he flew no more than ten feet above the window and the building I saw the telltale white head! We are not near cliffs or breeding grounds. We are more than just a couple miles from the Minnesota Valley Wildlife Refuge. Very little but buildings, roads, and a little green space. But there he was.

I saw another one today on my way to work. This was in suburban Chanhassen, not far from some smaller lakes. But still not in the wilderness. Acres of homes and miles of roads surround and encroach on the green spaces. Again, though, there was the Bald Eagle. Flying no more than 20 feet off the ground. Awesome.

So what's the big deal? It's a beauty of a bird, to be sure. It is our national symbol. But it's only a bird. Millions are starving and dying. There are still homeless in New Orleans, not to mention downtown Minneapolis. Both bird probably flew over areas that at best can be described as "run-down ghettoes."

The big deal is this: the healthier our world is, the safer we are. We have been able to turn around ecological crises. We have been able to work at improving air and water and habitat, not just for the Eagles, but for us as well.

We did it by first recognizing the problem (i.e. not denying it or giving it a euphemistic name we can ignore and forget about like "climate change.") Then we said that this problem is one of importance to all of us. This is the only planet we all have to live on and we have to find ways of doing it together without endangering major populations of our fellow inhabitants.

Then we did it.

We lived up to the biblical standard of being stewards of the world God gave us. TO have "dominion" is to take care as well as to dominate. It is to recognize our need for the environment as well as our responsibility to watch over it.

Unfortunately, the resurrection of the Bald Eagle may be easier to have accomplished than some of the problems we face like global warming made worse by our human actions. The concerns of helping Third and Fourth World countries to move into a more modern and technological while helping them keep their environments clean are real.

But that Bald Eagle told me and showed me that we can do it. Isn't that what good stewards do?