“I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Make of heaven and earth.”  So, begins the Apostles Creed.  Luther concludes his comments on the first article, “For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey.”

One of God’s gifts to humans is curiosity.  This year as we spin over 800 mph around the earth’s axis while orbiting the sun at over 64,000 miles an hour even as our solar system merry-go-rounds at 43,000 mph, use God’s gift of curiosity.  This spring, as woodpeckers hammer away at trees, siding, and metal street light posts, give thought to how the bird does so without bashing its brains to mush.  Leonardo da Vinci was interested in the tongue of the woodpecker which is three times the length of its bill and retracts into the skull to wrap around its head and then curve down to its nostril.  The tongue is not only good for digging out grubs in a tree.  Its bizarre tongue and supporting structure acts as a cushion shielding the brain from shock, as it smashes its beak repeatedly into tree bark with a force on its head ten times what would kill a human.

Be curious, just don’t eat the fruit from the tree in the midst of Eden or anything that your mother says you shouldn’t. And don’t smash your beak into any trees or lamp posts.  That would just be stupid.