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PEW VIEW
Pentecost
The silver Bird
It was new to the Abbey, the silver Bird, suspended over the altar by so fine a thread that it seemed to be caught and held in mid-flight. ‘It’s the dove of peace!’ exclaimed my grand-daughter, and of course she was right. Ever since it brought back the green twig to Noah, letting him know that the flood was subsiding and the relationship between God and man had been restored, the dove has carried that burden, a symbol of peace in a world in which there is no peace.
Into a society that so often seems to encourage pride and self-assertion, the dove also comes to us as a sign of humility. In the Temple, the pilgrim’s offering was usually a lamb, but the bird was an acceptable substitute for those who were poor, a humble sacrifice which, as Our Lord tells us, is pleasing to God if it comes with a whole heart. Mary and Joseph took two turtle doves in gratitude when they brought their little Son to the Temple for the first time.
But most of all, the dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, hovering over the waters at the very creation of the world, and descending on Our Lord at the moment of His baptism. He is the inspiration of all beauty and art, and early Christian paintings show Him as a dove hovering over the apostles to inspire their mission to the world. Images of St John especially often show in this way the Holy Spirit guiding his words. Sometimes the dove is thought to represent the human soul after death: perhaps the Holy Spirit is seen as taking back to Himself the breath of life that is God-given.
Birds have a strange power to inspire such imagery. The eagle of St John reminds us of the apostle’s fixed gaze towards heaven; in Romanesque sculpture, a battle between a lion and an eagle represents the struggle between body and spirit, sin and grace. The heavenward flight of a bird often suggests the striving of the soul for something higher and finer than itself.
The dove, beautiful, innocent, gentle, is above all, to Christians, a reminder of the coming of the Holy Spirit to resolve our conflicts and to calm our anxious minds. It was a good choice, to have His image before us as we prayed, and as we left the Abbey, we saw the silver Bird still there, hovering over the altar and the world.
Pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit, to bring peace to the world and to each of us.
©JvE
* The Abbey is at Tournus, in Burgundy, France
After the stone moved - A Mother remembers
He was such a good boy.
He was always obedient, quiet, good to me
His mother. I had been promised a miracle.
Somehow I never thought his birth
Would bring shame for Joseph,
How could I ? Who thinks when angels speak ?
But Joseph was kind to me, such an honourable man.
Perhaps that was where my best boy
Got his goodness, his kindness.
Mark you, he could be a problem:
That time in Jerusalem when he went off
Without a word. Kids eh!
Oh I know the city is an exciting place,
But I would never have thought
Those old men in the Temple would have been
So enticing! But that's my boy.
Oh! You don't know how that hurts --
That was my boy.
Why,why,why did they do that to him ?
I'm glad that Joseph never saw it;
That would have disgraced him. Crucifixion !
They mutilated my beautiful boy;
I'll never get that off my mind.
How could one of his friends cause all that ?
Yet the others have told me all about it since -
And they've told you the story, four times over.
What they couldn't tell you
Is that my boy was never really mine at all;
He was only lent to me.
He really belongs to everyone, even the brutes
Who killed him. I know because HE told me.
John Gaze Maundy Thursday 2003