The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45
In Vancouver, I took a whale watch trip to see the orcas (killer whales). We didn’t see many whales from the cruise ship so I was eager to go. Glen was sick having picked up a bug on the ship and decided to stay in the hotel to rest before our flight home the next day. I was so sorry he missed this experience, but felt comfortable going alone because the whale watch company picked me up and returned me directly to the hotel.
The boat left from the docks in Stevenson which is about 30 minutes from Vancouver. Once aboard, we travelled to a place where there were a lot of seals. Because the orcas hunt seals, they were there, too. This was not like Sea World, but more like Wild Kingdom. The orcas leap out of the water and on top of the seals to knock them unconscious. Once the seals are incapacitated, the orcas pull them under the water and drown them.
There were some little girls on the boat. I was afraid that they were going to be scarred for life, but they were rooting for the whales. I guess no damage was done.
In order to enjoy the experience of being so close to the whales in a natural setting, I decided to root for the whales, too. Otherwise, my heart would break for the poor seals. Just out minding their own business getting some dinner, when wham, a six ton whale landed on top of them. I know how that feels to be surprised like that though it wasn’t by a whale I was caught off guard! The whales came very close to our boat, and I got some great photos of them.
Each of the whales has different markings, and the Captain could identify each one. He explained that what we were witnessing was the adult orcas teaching the juveniles how to hunt. He told us a lot of interesting things about the orcas including that what they eat depends on where they are raised and which pod they are born into. Some orcas eat only fish, some eat seals, others, sharks or turtles. He added that the orcas are slowly being poisoned. Because of pollution in the sea, their food is contaminated. The fish contain mercury and other chemicals. The seals eat the fish and swim in the water and when the whales eat them, they also ingest pollutants. Because whales are at the top of the food chain, their blubber contains high levels of chemicals that cause illness or death.
The whale’s dilemma made me think about these verses in Matthew 15. Just like what the whales put in their mouths causes them to be sick, what we put in our minds can make us sick. What we watch, read, or hear goes into our hearts. What are you feeding your heart? Whales store pollutants in their blubber, but for us, it is evidenced by what comes out of our mouths.
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