Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Darren Milam
Wednesday, January 24, 2024
I presume most of you have heard of Gorillas in the Mist. Well, this image isn’t from that. No, this image was taken from the Skagit River, near Marblemount, WA. If you live in the Seattle area and have a chance to experience this firsthand, it’s worth the drive and time. This area of the Skagit Valley is breathtaking, from tall mountains to scenic calm flowing waters (depending on the conditions of the river). When we ventured out, the day was very foggy and cloudy. Once we were on the water, we had several spots of sunshine and clearing skies. The river was very low due to several factors, but the voyage was peaceful and informative. Due to the low river conditions, the number of eagles we viewed were smaller than I had encountered in years past. We were able to spot about 40 Bald Eagles along the way.
If you know much about our nation’s symbol, you know they are migratory, they solely live in North America (many of the birds we saw were visiting from British Columbia), and one of the biggest reasons they migrate (take trips across the Canada and Washington border), is for food. One of their favorites is Chum Salmon. Fish in general are high up on the list of “preferred” foods for our eagle friends, but for the Skagit River (and others in the area) Chum Salmon (native to the Pacific NW and parts of Canada and Alaska).
So, why Chum Salmon? It’s extremely efficient for the eagles. Chum Salmon heads the rivers to spawn and once they have, they stay in that exact spot to die. What? Why would they do that? They are sacrificing for their offspring. You see, when the little fishes (we’ll call them “Chummies”) hatch, they need nutrients to survive the big world they just entered. Those nutrients, as odd as it sounds, come from their parents. I know that sounds a bit odd, but that is a designed plan. In fact, we have seen another example of sacrifice, on a much grander scale.
John 3:16 describes this enormous sacrifice,
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Clearly, sacrifice was in the plan to save us from sin. We see it all around us, the opposite of life. We know God has a plan to clean out the sin and let Life, Love and Joy prevail. We are reminded of this, through many parts of nature. I chose not to use one of these Chum’s as a visual for this, but instead used the Bald Eagle, hidden amongst the branches. My hope, the next time you see one of these majestic flying raptors, you think of Jesus’ sacrifice, through His Father, for us – allowing us to not only survive but flourish in Paradise.