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You are here: Home >> Blog >> Blogs by Marie Fortune (retired) >> “’Hope’ Is the Thing With Feathers”

“’Hope’ Is the Thing With Feathers”

Apr 12, 2012 — Categories:

I have been watching the live cam coverage of the eagles’ nest in Decorah, Iowa, since early March along with thousands of others. This pair of eagles returns to this nest each spring to lay eggs, hatch them, tend the eaglets and then launch them into the air. This has become part of my spring/Easter ritual.

I have been watching the live cam coverage of the eagles’ nest in Decorah, Iowa, since early March along with thousands of others.  This pair of eagles returns to this nest each spring to lay eggs, hatch them, tend the eaglets and then launch them into the air.  This has become part of my spring/Easter ritual.

Each day, I watched as the eagle parents traded off time on the nest, tidied up, occasionally did a little remodeling, waiting for the eggs to hatch.  Given the unpredictability of spring weather, several nights brought snow that completely covered the papa eagle and the nest.  But he was right there, never hesitating or questioning that his job was to sit still and keep those eggs warm.

Now the eggs have hatched and the parents’ task shifts to feeding hungry mouths.  So one brings in the food (a fish or a squirrel) while the other contains the babes and feeds them with tiny parcels of flesh.

Emily Dickinson, the great American poet of the nineteenth century, came to mind.

 “’Hope’ is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all – “

An eagle’s feathers are truly magnificent, the white head and tail sharply contrasted with the gray/brown/black body…Powerful wings, imposing beak, large strong talons. 

Dickinson was probably imagining a songbird in her poem, perhaps a robin or sparrow.  But I see a mama eagle carefully stepping around the eggs and now chicks with her huge feet…carefully turning the eggs with her puissant beak; then launching herself and soaring into the air with an eye for food for her chicks; always returning to tend those whom she brought into this world.

The prophet Isaiah [chapter 40, verses 29-31] reminds us of this faithfulness that we know in God.

“God gives strength to the weary,
And empowers the powerless.
Young women may grow tired and weary,
Young men may stumble and fall,
But those who wait for Yhwh
Find a renewed power:
They soar on eagles’ wings,
They run and don’t get weary,
They walk and never tire.”      [The Inclusive Bible, 2007]

This is the message of hope that we so desperately need this spring, this thing with feathers.

Go spend some time with the eagles and chicks.  It will be good for your soul.

Rev. Dr. Marie M. Fortune
FaithTrust Institute
www.faithtrustinstitute.org

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