Yay God Nerd Alert!

This will be somewhere between a NERD ALERT and a YAY GOD post.

I have liked peacocks for a long time. Can’t beat the color! I get razzed about my home’s décor and clothes being predominately in shades of blue or green. God must have a penchant for those colors and love them as much as I do.

Wish I could be like Him more in other ways. Sigh.

There are so many interesting things about the peacock. A group is called a party though some say it’s a bevy or a muster. I like the sound of party better. I’m still trying to come up with a good date for my next Celebrate Life Party!

A number of years ago, we did a program for a seniors’ group at a local church. Between musical selections, we spoke on the symbolism of different creatures as people perceived them during the Middle Ages. Yep. Super nerdy.

Peacocks are native to Asia, India in particular. Indian art reflects their fondness for these birds. Christian art assigned symbolism to the eyes on the tail to be like the ‘eyes of God’. Ashkenazi Jews felt using a peacock’s feather as a quill would enhance a writer’s inspiration. For some reason, ancient Persians associated peacocks with the Tree of Life.

According to Joyful Heart Renewal Ministries, Dr. Ralph L. Wilson (pastor@joyfulheart.com) said early Christians thought because the peacock sheds and regrows its feathers, it symbolized the resurrection. See? I’m not the only one who likes a great object lesson! The ancient guys did too! The fact is peacocks molt their feathers after mating season then grow a new, more colorful set.

The tail rattling they do to attract a peahen produces a vibration humans cannot hear. The peahen sees the male’s display and feels it in her crest feathers. That mating routine is called train rattling, and the peacocks orient themselves toward the sun during this time which brings out its best coloring. Bird Advisors  says what we see aren’t actual colors but is due to structural changes that scatter light. Huh! Looks blue and green to me! Plus the iridescence! Amazing!

There are so many really cool facts about peacock feathers, but the information was too scientific. Zoom!!! Right over my head. But if you look closely at the pictures, you can see some of God’s artistry and brilliance displayed.

One of my sons-in-law gave me a bundle of peacock feathers. I am still working to arrange them among leaves of a pothos plant obelisk in my living room. It will be beautiful when I get it just right. And super quirky. But so am I. And guess what? I am too old to care!

Here’s some more food for thought.

Psalm 8:3-6  ‘When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that You are mindful of them, human beings that You care for them?’  NIV

Psalm 104:24  ‘How many are Your works, Lord! In wisdom You made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures. … Praise the Lord, O my soul!’ NIV

So, Yay God!!!

Blessings

KB