Looking out over ‘my’ three-acre property here above Lake Naivasha, my daughter and I recently recorded the sighting of three juvenile Greater Spotted Cuckoos. It had been many years since I’d seen one out on the dirt road to the Maasai Mara. Being avid birdwatchers – a long time mother-daughter hobby – we reveled in this unexpected visit of these uncommon birds. For two to three days we enjoyed their presence, noting with interest that a pied crow was feeding these cuckoo youngsters, whose parents lay their eggs in another bird’s nests, taking no further responsibility in the care and bringing up of their offspring.
In working with orphaned children in our nearby communities, I have sadly witnessed a similar behavior exhibited by human beings. A baby is conceived out of wedlock. A girl in desperate straits to earn a living, becomes a commercial sex worker and gets pregnant. Countless youngsters are left on the streets or in the bush hoping their innocent cries will bring someone along to care for them.
There are a number a bird species, which practice the same behavior as the cuckoo. As people created in God’s image, we have the God-given responsibility to “train up a child in the way he/she should go and when they are old, they’ll not depart from it.”
Honor the sanctity of a new life and bring up your children in the nurture and nature of God’s way.
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