Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, June 10, 2025
The words are familiar to us, perhaps because they were spoken by Jesus Himself. Or perhaps because we find security in the comfort that image brings to mind. Either way, a picture is painted of a God who desperately cares for those He loves. Luke renders His words this way: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” (Luke 13:34 NIV)
Domestic fowl are not the only ones that brood their chicks. Both altricial and precocious chicks need to be kept warm after they emerge from the shell. An example of the second kind is shown by this Killdeer, offering warmth to its offspring which is less than an hour old. Soon it will be off and running, looking for its own food, but for the moment it is content to sleep, warmed by the body heat generated by its parent. Hinted at in this picture is the brood patch, an area of bare skin on the breast that allows closer contact with the parent’s skin without interfering buffer feathers. This is important during incubation but is also used to keep young warm after they hatch. In many species, feathers regrow after nesting is completed.
This area of skin serves its purpose well as it has a concentration of blood vessels near the surface which aid in the transfer of heat. These patches vary from species to species with some having a single patch, while others like the Killdeer, have two, one on each side. Since both male and female participate in incubation, both sexes have these patches. Gulls may have three while brood parasitic cuckoos have none.
The sad part of this story is that Jesus’ offer of love and security was rejected by Jerusalem and by many today. As the verse says, “You were not willing.”
Both the young and the old have their place. Both the liberal and conservative can contribute to the wellbeing of society. Should we be of the older mindset, it would be very easy to misuse the King James Version of Isaiah 32:5 which says: “The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.” Newer translations such as the NIV, RSV, and ESV all translate the word “liberal” as “fool.” Makes you wonder if those who wrote the 1611 translation might not have been conservatives.