The five light blue eggs contrasted with the brown cup shaped nest, catching my eye. Our acreage in south central Minnesota is 6 years along in a 10 acre reforestation effort that is now providing excellent nesting habitat for the American goldfinch. I made sure to regularly visit this nest through out the incubation and nestling periods. I am fascinated at the various speeds at which certain things happen. I could have helped the parents feed their five nestlings with the strictly high protein diet of seeds in an effort to speed up their growth, but it would not have had much of an effect. The goldfinch takes 12 to 14 days to incubate their eggs and 11 to 17 days before they leave the nest, and that is the way it will always be (allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Goldfinch).

From birds to the rotation of the earth about its axis and everything in between, some things simply cannot be rushed. I guess you could say they were created to operate at a determined speed. I call this, “the speed of nature”. And it is important.

Recognizing the speed of nature encourages the virtue of patience. Patience is key to so many things, and is especially important in outdoor observation and discovery. When we realize that some things simply cannot be rushed, like a sunset or full moon, we begin to experience a sense of calm; to fight the speed of nature is to be unsettled in our spirit. When we work within the confines of the speed of nature as predetermined by the Author Himself, we discover patience and patience gives birth to a sense of well being and calm that spills over from our outdoor pursuits into our homes, classrooms and offices.

Points to Ponder:

  1. Spend some time listing things that cannot be rushed
  2. Discuss the consequences, if it were possible, of speeding up or slowing down gestation periods, speed of light, the pull of gravity or the seasons of the year. What can we learn about the eternal power and divine nature of the Author of these time frames?
  3. How does accepting the time frames established by God encourage patience and calm in our inner most being?
  4. Develop your patience by planting some flower seeds and record the time for each of the following: germination, first leaf, first flower. Add other measurements, as you desire, to make it even more interesting. Record your observations and submit to www.visibleverse.org/speedofnature