Designed For More Book

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20 NIV

It snuck up on me. A moment of awe and wonder that I had not expected at 4:30 a.m. This particular morning, I rose early to pray, research, and write (with small children in the house, you have to fight for those moments). As I sat down at my computer, I stumbled upon a video that took me by surprise. What came to life on my screen was a Murmuration: a flock of starlings, numbering in the thousands, creating moving art in the sky.

The aerial ballet was mesmerizing. Hypnotic, and unlike any other bird formation I had ever seen. Driven to awe, poets have described a Murmuration as madness in the sky. I watched the birds fly together in sync, twisting and turning, like a cloud that has suddenly come to life, creating beautiful shapes that shifted and changed in the air.

A Murmuration is one of nature's most beautiful displays of unified and collective movement. Named for the sound created by thousands of wings flapping, Murmurations occur as a flock of starlings comes together in the evening to roost. These formations occur in the later fall and early winter months, and although they have been spotted in several places around the world, the greatest concentration occurs in the United Kingdom. Still images don't even come close to doing it justice; if you have not yet seen this phenomenon in motion, treat yourself and visit DesignedForMoreBook.com for Murmuration videos.

At dusk, with only a few moments of sunlight left, as if breaking forth from an organized huddle, the starlings suddenly take to the sky in mass. This is no ordinary flock of birds in flight. The beautiful theatrical display has a transfixing effect-a gift from nature of incredible proportions. It is truly a phenomena, that is why science has given the formation it's own name - merely calling it a 'flock of birds' would not be accurate.

As the starlings erupt into a Murmuration, they swoop, dive, contract, and then explode in unison with incredible rhythm and finesse. Despite the rapid and close-quarter movements of the formations, they consistently avoid collisions. The synchronized maneuvers are simply spectacular.

Unforgettable.

A madness in the sky.

Captivated by this wonder, I dove into a journey of learning that took me deeper into understanding this marvel and the artist and designer behind it. As Romans 1 tells us, creation tells us who God is, what he is like and what he values. What I found in the Murmuration was an echo of the truth declared over and over in the Scriptures: God deeply cares about unity.

Consider how central unity within diversity is to the very essence of the Trinity. Then, of all the things Jesus could have prayed for before going to the cross, he prayed for unity among his followers in John 17. I recently had the chance to sit down with N.T. Wright over tea in St. Andrews, Scotland (a dream come true!) and he remarked that if we are to take Jesus, the New Testament and Paul seriously, we must realize how vitally critical unity is to our mission.

However today, followers of Jesus have largely missed (or ignored!) the Biblical clarion call for unity. Instead of being a captivating Murmuration of our own, we are siloed and splintered. God's great message of reconciliation has lost so much power because it's messengers are not reconciled! It is time to move beyond the fragmentation and division that holds us back.

Today, we need a fresh vision for unity among believers and followers of Christ. That is why Mike DeVito and I wrote Designed For More. Our hope was to write a book that was both vision casting and also intensely practical. With Biblical teaching, the Murmuration phenomena as our guide, and over 60 years of combined ministry experience, we are so excited to share a new resource that we believe can re-shape and empower our faith community like never before. Let's FLY!

Lucas Ramirez is the author Designed For More and President and CEO of The Gathering Place. Catch up with Lucas at his website www.LucasRamirez.org or follow him on Twitter @thelucasramirez or on Instagram @thelucasramirez