Omens

"OMENS" discusses only one of the multitude of signs that Africans believe there are in nature. The owl is a common one around the world. Some others are bush babies, cats. snakes, other animals and insects. The effect of the fear of these often tends to be that these animals get killed.

We had bush babies in the woods around our house in Zambia. One of the guards was making a big noise early one morning. When I went out to find out what was going on, he said he had to kill the bush baby. I made very clear to him that if he did, he would be fired.

We had an owl land on our roof during the daylight one time in Mozambique. The children in the street were throwing stones at it, endangering our windows more than the owl. I remonstrated with them and got them to stop for a while. However when the owl took off again (I believe it had been wounded earlier) they were chasing it again. I doubt it survived.

It is sad these beautiful creatures are feared. Merely telling them they aren't dangerous is not enough. They need to be secure in their confidence in the Lord and His power to keep them safe. Then they can look at these animals in a different way.

I submitted this drama once to The Hornbill, a small birding magazine in Nelspruit, South Africa, and it was published.

I have a recording in French for your listening pleasure.