Poachers have placed extraordinary pressure on the rhinoceros. As a result of this pressure, rangers in various countries have stepped up their efforts to protect them. As part of this protection effort, these rangers place tracking devices on the animals and then try to see them on a frequent basis.
The problem with a rhinoceros is that it cannot tell the difference between a ranger that is trying to protect it and a poacher that is trying to kill it. Because of this, rangers have to be careful in approaching the animals. A rhinoceros has very poor eyesight, but a very keen sense of smell. In order to get close to the rhinoceros, the rangers have to be careful to approach them downwind. Determining which way the wind is blowing is critical. A recent show on television showed one of the rangers checking the wind. He pulled from his pocket a little sack of talcum powder. He shook the sack and a fine dust emerged which drifted with the wind, thus showing which way the wind was blowing.
Knowing which way the wind is blowing is important in life as well as in stalking a rhinoceros. It is always easier to walk with the wind than to travel against it.
The kids are out of school now, but they will be heading back in August. When they go back, they may very well have to write about returning to class. In a Peanuts comic strip, Lucy was given such an assignment. She wrote: “Vacations are nice, but it’s good to get back to school. There is nothing more satisfying or challenging than education, and I look forward to a year of expanding knowledge.” Needless to say, the teacher was pleased with Lucy and complimented her fine essay. In the final frame of the comic strip, Lucy leaned over and whispered to Charlie Brown, “After a while, you learn what sells.”
It’s always easier to offer what sells, to determine which way the wind is blowing, and to go in that direction.
But going with the wind is not always the direction that we ought to go. My first cousin and best friend as I was growing up was Lavell Cole. Lavell majored in history and taught at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, for over 30 years before bad health forced him to retire. These health problems eventually led to his death a few years ago. Lavell was always an independent thinker, and, as university professors are wont to do, often chafed at rules and restrictions.
At his funeral, before the service began, they played the old Bob Seger song, “Against the Wind”:
“Against the wind
I’m still running against the wind
Well, I’m older now but still
Running against the wind.”
The people of God have often had to run against the wind. You have to do more than just go the way that the wind is blowing. You have to go in the direction of God’s will and leadership. Keep an eye on the wind. You may have to run against it this week.
