Praying Hands & Swooping Owls

      I try to live a simple life. But for several Chihuahua emergencies involving a bumblebee, a flyswatter, a mousetrap, and a rubber glove, I lead a quiet and sheltered life. With the possible exception of a bizarre and somewhat over-publicized incident in college years ago involving a used hot dog pizza, a nighttime visit to a bronze tiger statue (a replica of our mascot), streaking, a powerful set of headlights and an obviously stunned driver, I am seldom visibly shaken.

            I need to tell you about something that happened several years ago on the campus of Vanderbilt University, just down the highway about thirty minutes from our quiet little town. This is not for those with a sensitive stomach. If you have preschoolers do not let them read any further,  unless you have access to a trained child psychiatrist or SpongeBob SquarePants. Once upon a time, there were swooping owls at Vanderbilt – not to be confused with the more docile Rice Owls of Houston, who have lost their swoop.

            Here’s the biggest problem I have. If I am taking a casual $100,000   a semester stroll through the campus of Vanderbilt University, I should not have to worry about swooping owls. Swooping boosters maybe, but I believe they have also lost their swoop. Rumor has it, the owls were turned loose on the campus to control the squirrel population but were attacking the students instead. One student was quoted as saying, “I guess my head looked like a squirrel!”

            This is an outrage! I am incensed! First of all, I want to know why there was a perfectly good rumor going around and no Baptists were notified. Second, are the squirrels and owls paying full tuition? Finally, I want to know why the students look like squirrels. These students will eventually graduate, own corporations, and cheer for Florida when they play Tennessee.

            Another eyewitness said, “It attacked a security officer near Divinity. We looked through the area but did not see any nests.” Well, of course not! You can’t see security officer nests with the naked eye! You must have highly sophisticated night vision goggles with donut-infused lenses.

            The owls were a nuisance but everyone should be thankful these were not  swooping vultures or swooping pigeons. Several of the students said their biggest frustration with the owls was that they never saw them coming. Vultures  and pigeons make noise in flight. Owls are silent attackers.

            So it is in life. Sometimes the most devastating attack on the Christian is when we least expect it. We never see it coming. Satan (“Beowlzebub”) can be extremely cunning. He knows he does not always have to confront us with the vultures of wealth, power, greed, or uncontrolled anger. He can creep up on us through pride, laziness, lack of self-control, or not spending enough time with family – like the silent attack of a supposedly innocent owl.

How do we defend ourselves from such attacks? Matthew 26:41 says, “Watch and pray. Then you won’t fall into sin when you are tempted” (NIV). We pray. While he preys on our weaknesses we should be praying for strength. Birds of prey are no match for words of prayer because preying claws cannot undo the grasp of praying hands.