Last week, my wife and I, our daughter, and several friends went to northern Wisconsin for a week of fishing, kayaking, boating and seeing God’s beauty in nature. Each day of the week, three families of geese with their babies (called goslings) would walk in front of our cabin to feed on the grass. The baby goslings were adorable and fun to watch.

On Wednesday, we noticed one of the goslings was no longer with her family and was laying on her back, flailing to get back on her feet. My nature-loving daughter gently approached the frightened gosling with a towel and sat her upright, with hopes that she could walk away. The gosling did walk for a short distance, and so everyone thought that she might be okay.

We noticed, though, that this gosling appeared either sick or injured, and was struggling to walk or move much more than the few feet she initially moved. Again, my daughter picked her up and put her in some bushes near sea grass, so she would be comfortable and not get attacked by any forest animals, nor hurt by someone possibly stepping on this little creature when it became dark.

My daughter kept the gosling nestled in a towel for comfort and gave her water to drink and grass to eat.

The gosling eventually passed away due to injury or illness. My daughter then placed it lovingly in heavy vegetation on the shoreline where it could rest in peace.

I found myself amazed at the gentleness and love my daughter showed this little creature. I, on the other hand, did not show this compassion and was expressing concern that the poor little animal might have a disease (like bird flu) and that we needed to be careful in case it was contagious. My daughter would have none of that, and she simply showed love for God’s vulnerable creature.

Isn’t that what Jesus does for each of us? He never abandons us in our weaknesses. Whether we or a loved might be suffering from an illness or injury, suffering from anxiety while watching the craziness found in the world today, grieving the death of a loved one, or similar challenges, Jesus is lovingly and gently present to comfort us for what we may be going through. Jesus does not walk away. We are loved so much more than we can ever imagine.

Thank you, Jesus, for loving each of us so much. 



By: Deacon Tom Gryzbek