White Peacock

What a beautiful bird!  I don't think I'd ever seen a white Peacock before.  Although I think the brilliantly colored peacock is magnificent, there is something so elegant about this rare bird that I was delighted by its plumage.  It reminds me of a bride -- all in frothy white with a tiara on her head.  The white peacock is not albino, but rather a mutation of its brilliantly-colored brother.  I snapped this lovely close-up at Bluebird Gap Farm.

 

You know the old saying, "Pretty is as pretty does," or we might add, "Beauty is only skin deep?"  Well, I can't help but use those phrases with this magnificently beautiful bird.  Although his appearance is grand and elegant, from what I was told, this guy is downright rude and ugly-acting.  He has a temper and -- you see that sharp beak -- well, he's not adverse to using it if you get too near.  I kept my distance and used the zoom on my camera to get this close-in shot.

 

Not only is he notorious for an ugly temper, he has an equally ugly voice.  Now, I know he can't help how he sounds, but believe me -- it does not go along with his appearance.  If you've never heard a peacock call out, you might be surprised how harsh, honking and unattractive the sound is.  God does have a sense of humor and I can't help but think He may have decided He needed to temper this bird's brilliant beauty by giving him a harsh, totally non-singing voice -- perhaps to keep him humble.

 

So -- what sort of spiritual message can we uncover in this beautifully plumed exterior and equally unattractive inner make-up?

 

Think on these words God spoke long ago to a certain someone:  "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground..." Ezekiel 28:17.  Do you know who God was speaking to?

 

This one who God was speaking to was earlier in the chapter described as "...the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty" verse 12.  These verses describe Lucifer, the brilliant angel who reminds me of this elegant peacock, strutting and shaking his tail feathers as if he thinks he is the master of the universe -- and that's exactly what Lucifer thought he was -- the master of the universe.  His head was turned by his own beauty and he had the audacity to think he was equal with God -- hence the casting to the ground in the earlier verse.

 

Beauty is a gift from God and if it is kept in perspective it can serve the wearer well, but if one's head is turned as Lucifer's was by their own beauty, that is when it becomes deceptive.  It's interesting to note that even Satan can be deceived.

 

The poet John Keats wrote, "A thing of beauty is a joy forever."  That is particularly true of a person who has the inner beauty of the Holy Spirit living within their heart.  Whether you have outward beauty to go along with the inner beauty, or not -- God is most pleased with the heart that is turned to Him.  "...For the Lord does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" 1 Samuel 16:7.

 

I still think this white peacock is mighty pretty!