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It was twenty-six minutes before the first female condor, number 1254, took her maiden voyage. “There she goes,” Kevin said. “She’s sailing to the right.” I watched her distant wingspan, soaring on the air thermals over the cliffs. She soared for less than a minute before safely landing. “That’s a successful first flight and landing,” the man on the microphone announced above the excited chatter from observers. “Four more to go.” We watched for another hour-and-a-half before packing our things and heading back to the car. It would be two more days before the other four birds left the release pen. The lone male had to be collected later that same day for “making bad choices” that could have affected his ability to survive. He will be given another chance for freedom in the future. I find it hard to put into words what I experienced that day, of watching a bird—once headed for extinction—take its first solo flight of freedom in the wild. I had a sense of being part of greatness, of joining with others in a God-given destiny. One of the first instructions God gave Adam in the brand-new world in Genesis 1:28 was to tend and govern the earth, including “all the birds of the heavens.” We, as people created in God’s image, have the ability to do amazing things in this world. Together—we can build and plant and grow. Or we can destroy. That day, I watched private individuals, nonprofits, local, state, and federal governments come together (a miracle!) with one purpose—to bring back life from death. The work of a changemaker is often slow, deliberate work, with a long view that lasts generations. As condors, who once lived in captivity, now soar over the Vermillion Cliffs, ask yourself these questions: Where are you working as a changemaker? Where do you have a vision with a long view? How are you taking back life from death? Who is working beside you?
Keep up the good work!
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