A friend sent me a link to a video clip recently. It is the brief story of a group of white deer clustered in North Central Wisconsin. Nobody completely understands how they got there or why they persist. But a nature photographer named John Richter has now published a book about them called "White Deer: Ghosts In The Forest." I checked for it on Amazon, but for some reason the book is currently unavailable. Perhaps after Wisconsin public broadcasting ran their story in March, there was an unexpected run on the book.I don't know why I'm writing about this or why I'm so intrigued and peacefully satisfied by the story. Perhaps I just love the idea of something beautiful and surprising existing unexplained. I love how God repeatedly and beautifully reminds us that there is much we do not know.
Maybe I just like deer. There is something serene and peaceful about them. I've never been a hunter, so I've never learned to see them through hunter's eyes. They are just peace to me. And so to see white deer playing with each other in the forest is a wonderful little bit of peaceful, fresh air in my day.
There is a scene in one of the final episodes of the great HBO film series "Band of Brothers" where some WWII soldiers, at the end of an almost unimaginable series of battles, go deer hunting together. They spot a beautiful deer staring back at them in the forest, but just can't bring themselves to shoot it. Somehow, after all they've been through, shooting such serenity just doesn't seem right. Maybe later, but not right then.
I don't know. Draw your own conclusions and inspiration. But please take a moment today, get a cup of coffee, put your feet up, watch the video and marvel at a world that is still beautiful and surprising.
