Ugly Duck

I was enjoying an extraordinarily peaceful and idyllic time kayaking on the Catawba yesterday along a quiet shoreline when I spied a duck. It was a very ugly duck. It had a bulbous blob on the upper section of its beak, had pinkish eyes, and rather ugly grayish colored feathers. It was all alone. I suspected other ducks did not wish to be seen with the ugly duck. I have seen that duck before in that same spot, and always alone.

I glided near and paused, resting my paddle on my knees. The duck looked at me and came slowly towards me. Remembering my emergency crackers in my dry bag, I pulled them out. As the wrapper crinkled, the duck paddled closer. Up close, I could see his feathers which looked grey from further away were actually shades of teal melting into blue and were really quite pretty up close. The eyes, while pinkish, looked soulful. The duck watched me open the cracker package, keeping about two or three feet away. I held the cracker out to him. He stayed near, but hissed a little, and then eyed the cracker. Seeing he was not going to take it from my hand, I tossed it on the water. He gobbled it up. I held out a second cracker. This time he came up to me and snatched it from my hand.

While he munched his crackers, I sat still and watched him. He drifted beside my kayak, both of us slowly floating downstream. It was very companionable, us two solitary creatures floating on the water. I thought as I finally kayaked away, he really was quite a nice duck and not ugly at all once I got close.

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But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature, because I have rejected him. Man does not see what the Lord sees, for man sees what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7 HCSB)

Then hear thou in heaven, in the place of thy dwelling, and forgive, and do so as to give to every one according to his ways, as thou shalt see his heart (for thou only knowest the heart of all the children of men) (1 Kings 8:39 DRA)

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