By: Jason Tsaddiq
The hen was brooding. We prepared: special medicated feed is important for the first few weeks of a chick’s life. The eggs hatched much to our excitement. New life is always fun to watch.
However, as I watched the mother hen, I noticed that she dipped her head into the very shallow feed bowl which contained the medicated feed for the chicks and, in addition, she ate from her own bowl of feed. Always the penny-pinching one, I thought, “We can’t afford to feed this stuff to her, too; it’s just for the babies.”
But as I watched, I saw the chicks imitate her. When she dipped her head, they scurried over and dipped. I thought, “Well, this is the way the babies learn to eat. I guess I can afford it.’
Then I noticed another aspect: she didn’t eat the medicated feed; she only dipped her head into it, signaling its acceptability to her babies. She drank from their very shallow water bowl even though she had a fuller water bowl just out of their reach (to prevent their drowning).
The babies, not discerning enough to do research on their own, trusted their mother hen to teach them properly. Due to the mother’s teaching, the chicks survived and thrived.
When do I “dip my head”? Who is watching me dip my head, signaling acceptability for a younger Christian? When do I not dip my head? Whose head am I watching? Am I Biblically studious enough that I know into which philosophy I can dip and still please my Lord? Is someone, unbeknownst to me, watching my head? Have I dipped well enough that someone wants to follow my example as follow my Lord?