Bury your head in the sand?

Contrary to the notion that Ostriches burying their heads in the sand…this is simply not true.  When faced with fear, their first instinct is to run.  And since an Ostrich can run at a sustained speed of up to 40 miles an hour/ 65 km their first instinct is probably their best instinct.

So where did this fallacy of buried heads in the sand come from?  Traditionally Ostriches do not make nests like a traditional bird, since they are so big and most trees couldn’t hold them they will bury their eggs in the sand.  From a distance it can appear that an Ostrich is putting its head in the sand when in fact they are simply checking or turning their eggs.

So what they do in fear is actually out of necessity for the survival of their young.  If they didn’t run very fast and distract other predators from their nests, the Ostrich would cease to exist and suffer extinction.

Isn’t it interest that what we thought was cowardice is really a parent protecting their young?  Perhaps there is something to learn from this huge, fast birds…are we protective of our youth today?  Instead of being fearful of the world around us are we protecting our youth by nurturing them and not really caring how it would appear from the outside world?

Our youth needs us!  They need people of God who will instruct them and protect them from the predators in our world.  Perhaps there is something to learn from the Ostrich, perhaps we might even reconsider what it means to bury our heads in the sand.