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| Image by Fyn Kynd |
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mother birds
A GREETING
You say to my heart, “Seek my face,”
and so it is your face I seek!
(Psalm 27:8)
A READING
“Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem—you murder the prophets, and you stone those sent to you! Oh, how often have I yearned to gather you together, like a hen gathering her chicks under her wings! But you would have none of it. Therefore your house is being left to you—abandoned."
(Matthew 23:37-38)
MUSIC
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
Within a few days Mary set out and hurried to the hill country to a town of Judah, where she entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
(Luke 1:39-41)
A POEM
“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -
I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.
- "Hope is the thing with feathers," by Emily Dickinson
VERSE OF THE DAY
Yet you drew me out of the womb;
you nestled me in my mother’s bosom.
(Psalm 22:9)
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| Image by Elliott Ross. The original caption reads: "In a tender moment, a mother moves in and touches her head to her eldest daughter’s for reassurance as the girl begins to cry." Elliot Ross is a NYC-based photographer whose work focuses on "human stories that explore the social, cultural and economic effects of geographic isolation". The pictures above are from his photo series "At the Gate", which follows the lives of migrants arriving in Lesbos, Greece. |
At different times in the gospels, Jesus uses Wisdom metaphors to describe himself. Since Wisdom is always personified in the feminine in the Hebrew Bible, his analogy in Matthew 23 for himself is to a hen. In the ancient world, the figure of the public mourner was a woman. In his lamenting over Jerusalem, Jesus casts himself as an embodiment of the mothering figure. He is not just a caring parent, but someone who is able to enclose her young to herself.
A mother bird gives birth to a chick through an egg that comes from her body. Then once the chick is hatched, it can crawl back underneath her, almost as if to the womb. When Jesus laments, he is yearning to be able to draw the people he cherishes back under the protection of his own body. In this sense, his lament over the city foreshadows the Cross.
Any creature in the world that has given birth, yearns to be able to keep that young one close and nurture it until it can be self-sufficient. The Talmud therefore says that if a bird or it's young must be taken away, one or the other should be left so that the species survives. But do we in our contemporary world think this way? In some places, conservation-minded groups help us to make sure that expansion and development projects plan carefully to protect breeding birds. And yet still many species of birds lose their habitats through unbridled human expansion that threatens or eradicates traditional breeding grounds.
When Mary and Elizabeth greet each other, Elizabeth's babe leaps in her womb. These mothers will experience incalculable suffering and sorrow. But right now, in drawing close to each other, they embody Jesus's lament. They are gathering their broods beneath their wings so that their children may safely come into the world. In this moment, in the company of each other, they are the opposite of abandoned.
In what ways do we uphold the mothers of any creatures? On the other hand, how much do we expect the mothers of birds and other animals to sacrifice their young for our sake?
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A mother osprey and her young one, photographed by @harrycollinsphotography, found on Instagram. Clck here to read his story. Make sure sound is on.
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Scripture passages are taken from The Inclusive Bible.
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LC† The Winged Word is a devotional series of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help support the ongoing work.
Thank you and peace be with you!
