A Lenten Reflection by Marty Watson

April 12, 2022

Sandhill Cranes and my Lenten Journey

I had the good fortune this month (March 2022) to visit Southern Nebraska to observe the Great Migration of the Sandhill Cranes.  It was one of those bucket list things.  In my over 60 years of living, I have seen the Cranes on the prairie and heard them in the skies of South Dakota as they moved in the Spring and Fall but never before now, did I have the opportunity to see the great gathering of Sandhill Cranes along the Platte River.  The two days that I chose in March were filled with clouds and snow, not the beautiful sunsets filled with cranes that the photographers capture. Even in those less than perfect viewing conditions, I was moved.  The Sandhill Cranes migrate from southern wintering grounds to northern breeding grounds in Canada, Alaska, and Siberia.  They stop along the Platte River for 2-3 weeks to rest and gain body fat as they prepare for their journey north. They roost (sleep) safely at night by standing in the wide shallow areas of the flowing water of the Platte.    The Cranes have been doing this for 1000’s of years.  They travel in family groups that are maintained for years with individual cranes being   known to live for as long as 37 years.  The cranes renew their relationships through observable dances and vocalizations.  Prairies that used to be filled with native grasses are now filled with cultivated corn.  The Platte that used to move fast enough and deep enough so that it would prevent vegetation from growing on its banks now has its water flow reduced by upstream dams and irrigation. It isn’t by chance that the environment still sustains the over 1,000,000 cranes and other migrating birds that fly through this area of about 80 miles of the Platte in approximately 6 weeks of the late winter and early spring.  My over-night stay with the cranes included several hours with naturalists explaining through discussion and film this Great Migration.  In the 1970’s there was near disaster for the cranes.  A dam was proposed upstream from the Platte and because a handful of people who understood the needs of the cranes existed, there was legal action taken. A resolve through the courts established that if this dam was created, enough water would need to be released to the Platte so that the cranes could successfully migrate. 

Today the Great Migration continues. Both the Crane Trust and the Nicolson Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary support work by conservationists and naturalists to maintain the environment for the Cranes and provide educational experiences to visitors. Two Interpretive centers along interstate I-80 enhance the appreciation to the stream of travelers moving east and west through this area. The Centers are filled with displays about many other natural components of this area, information about recreational opportunities along the Platte, and galleries that include art inspired by the cranes, prairie and people who call this place home.

As I had this experience with the Sandhill Cranes, I could not help but allow it to become a metaphor for my own Lenten journey and disciplines.  Lent is a time for me to stop and strengthen my own Christian Faith.  A time for me to fatten up and gain strength for the difficult journey my Christian faith takes me on the remainder of the year.    The traditional Lenten acts of prayer, self-improvement and giving of alms still serve me well. 

 I found that this particular Lent I had a natural need to increase the practice of prayer.  Prayers for health in my own family has sensitized me to others with the same needs.  As I pray that the senseless war could end in Ukraine, I discover more places in other parts of our world also need my prayers and have citizens enduring violence from unthinking governments. 

Self-improvement is often the Lenten practice that I think gets a lot of attention.  Commitments to give up chocolate or meat or deny ourselves of something is often an interpretation of self-improvement.  I have interpreted self-improvement as engaging in learning something new.  Spending time together with others to study a particular book or scripture text has often made a difference on how I approach or understand the interpretation of my faith.  Shared study, discussion and perspective taking brings another level of understanding to a topic that isn’t possible if one studies only alone.  This Lent I have made my self-improvement practice the study of the German language.  I actually started taking my first German class in January and it will finish the end of March.  This has been very hard work for me, but I am discovering much more than just learning to say words in another language. I am making new friendships, learning more about the history of my own family, and appreciating the difficulty and fear of communicating in a language that one is not fluently speaking.  I have also learned that the best place to learn that new language is with others who are having the same struggle. Back in January I had the idea to just get through the class, but I feel this time of Lent has moved me to embrace all that can come and be appreciated with learning another language.  I have new appreciation for the postal person who sold me stamps several weeks ago as I struggled to understand his English.  In-stead of frustration, I should have offered praise to him for all that he accomplished in order to communicate with me.

The third practice of lent, Alms Giving, is historically a practice of giving money or food to the poor.  There certainly are plenty of people and institutions today that are financially poor and can benefit from receiving food and money from me.  And I do give to those requests and causes and am grateful that my resources are such that I am able to do that.   I also feel that Lent can be a time to figure out how to give beyond money and physical resources.  What if I use some of my hours or even just minutes in the day to be with someone who may need the gift of conversation, the company of someone while eating lunch or maybe just to share an amazing work of art, theatre or music.  I have tried to be intentional this Lent about how I am spending some of my precious minutes of the day.  I think I can honestly say that those minutes and hours have been a returned blessing to me and an enlightened approach to Alms Giving,  

So, what does Lent have to do with that amazing migration of the Sandhill Cranes?  Nature is often one of the finest teachers that I encounter.  As Christians, aren’t we on a long journey? A journey that has existed for thousands of years.  Don’t we need times to stop, fatten up and strengthen and better understand our faith?  Are there relationships between family members, people of faith, or fellow journeyers in our community that need enriching and deepening?  Are we managing all of this on our own?  Or, are there faithful who have come before us to create an environment that sustains our journey and growth and others who are part of the journey now?  And our future?  Like the Crane’s migration to their eventual destination of breeding grounds where they will nurture new life, isn’t our Lenten journey’s ending celebrated with the experience of the Alleluias of Easter morning and a renewed opportunity to live into our Christian Faith as we may have never known it before? 

Alleluia, Praise be to God!