Messengers

Lots of people talk to animals.... Not very many listen, though.... That's the problem.

~ Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh

The children gather round, blocking my view.   I run outside to see what spectacle holds their attention, and break through the huddle.   A dove has landed in the middle of my walkway, seemingly paralyzed and still as a small statue.      

Because I think he must be wounded I shoo the children away and reach down to stroke soft feathers.   His onyx eyes hold me suspended in a captive irony for a moment in time.   Then gently he lifts and ascends toward the heavens.       

Today, a dove has shown me how to be still, let go of fear, and simply trust.

To Move or Not to Move

She asks for a sign.   Move to North Carolina or stay in Wisconsin?    Sharon sits on the balcony one fine day when a cardinal lands on the right rail, sits and stares a spell, then flies to the other side.   She dares not move.   He must be here by design.    

Quiet and easy, she slips inside and calls the library.  The cardinal, she is told, is the North Carolina state bird… answered prayer?   A Divine sign to make the move… like Noah’s dove?      

Blindness cannot claim my friend’s inner vision.   Katherine may not see a clear outer view but still has eyes of faith and ears to hear… however God may choose to communicate.   

Messenger

By Katherine Russell Barnes

His heart is in his preaching

My heart is like a stone

It’s Easter, but for me

The service just drones on.

The prayers seem dull;

The anthems have no ring.

The hallelujahs fall

Like hail in spring.

Is there no hope?

Can nothing heal my heart?

I feel the grip of cold despair;

The postlude soon will start.

When just outside the window

A birdsong rends the air,

So full of joy and wild delight

How can I doubt His care? 

Katherine Russell Barnes is an award winning poet and author of two poetry collections, Lifework of the Heart and Treading Water.

Have you ever received a message from any of God’s creatures?

If so, describe your experience.