We have some rather unique wildlife in our part of the world, one of which is the Superb Lyrebird, (below) which happens to be the most amazing of mimics. The male is able to sing beautiful, and intricate songs, often including a combination of perfectly mimicked songs of other birds of the forest in which they dwell.
These amazing birds, about the size of a domestic rooster, even perfectly mimic other sounds they hear in the bush, chainsaws, tractors, trucks, etc.
We admire them so much that we put one on our ten cent coin, as you can see.
As much as I like our lovely birds, I don’t really want to write about them at this time, but I do want to mention another mimic, the human mimic, especially the one who seems to be able to mimic what they suppose is Christian.
They do everything that traditional dictates. Everything! They sit on rows of seats for an hour or so every Sunday, sometimes twice. Whilst sitting on the seats they mimic each other. Unlike the bower bird, they don’t sing a combination of their own song from their hearts, including the songs of others, they simply sing what everyone else is singing, which is nice, sometimes. It would be lovely to hear the melody of their own hearts as they are moved to glorify God and honor Christ!
Often, when the Master of Ceremonies utters an incantation, “Lettucespray!”, they mimic each other by shutting their eyes while the M.C. (often accompanied by a voice change) speaks amazingly flowery, often banal, words, which we never hear spoken in our daily lives.
These actions often bring about an involuntary reflex action of each person, in perfect unison, placing their hand in their pockets, or purse, and then over a plate or into a bag.
After these goings on, they are seated at the command of the M.C., where they remain for the next 15 or twenty minutes, sometimes longer.
Then, there is a sigh of relief as they rise from their perch to repeat the singing ritual, at the end of which the M.C. utters an incantation, often after repeating of "lettucespray", which seems to release their minds from his control, and they stream from the building, with smiles, nods, and the occasional few second chat.
As they leave the property, where the meeting was held, a change comes over them. No longer the unsmiling, sombre visages, held for the last period of time. As they go their separate ways, they appear to revert to a manner which appears to be quite normal for those who have no part in our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Whatever it was they have been doing for the last hour or so is gone, until next Sunday!.
I cannot help but wonder how many of those who flock together on Sundays, never truly expressing the radical, life-changing work of the Holy Spirit, which the Scriptures indicate are the result of a life indwelt and imbued by Him.
How easy it is for a lyrebird to mimic something which has no part of him. How easy it is for a man, woman or child to do likewise, especially if that is what the last couple of generations have done. It must be right, after all, we have always done it that way!
