Pastor’s Notes: Common Murre

The Common Murre or Common Guillemot (Uria aalge) is a type of bird known as an auk.  God gave them a circumpolar (around the poles of the earth) distribution and a sea-faring existence, occurring along the Arctic waters of the North-Atlantic and the North Pacific. Their flight through the atmosphere is quite fast but they lack the maneuverability they enjoy while “flying” under water.  They hunt at sea, really only coming to shore to establish colonial nesting sites on rocky ledges along the water’s edge. They have only one mate (monogamous) and mate for life.  The pair produces a single egg and, as they nest in densely-packed colonies (called loomeries), the eggs would most certainly be rolled over the edge was it not for the egg’s God-given design.  It tapers to a point on one end and any movement of the

egg simply results in its pivoting around that single point. Matt 10:29-33 says “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”   It is comforting for me to know that God watches over and provides for all His creatures and that we are His most prized of all!

Dr. James Huggins