Wild Love
Not as orphans are we left in sorrow now
Quick note before the blog (which is on a different topic): Tomorrow is the official release date of my first book, Catching Hope: The Hidden Spiritual Wisdom of Fishing. I’m so excited, and I hope you’ll all buy 53 copies. But seriously, it’s an easy read, and meant for anyone who has struggled, anyone interested in accessible spirituality, or who loves nature (and of course fishing). My deepest thanks to all of you who already bought the book, sent pictures, and supported me in this journey. We did it! Now on with the show…
“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will not see me, but you will see me” (John14:18-19).
Sometimes I get jealous of the disciples. Imagine a life following and learning from Jesus, walking with him, touching him. But most especially knowing that the Wild Love of God is right there. All these years later, it’s easy to sometimes feel like orphans and onlookers, separated from the Source of Life. As the misfit said in A Good Man Is Hard To Find, “if I had of been there I would of known and I wouldn’t be like I am now.” If the world had known, it wouldn’t be like it is now.
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever (John 14:16)
Jesus does come through the Holy Spirit, but it’s easy to miss. The job of the church is to recalibrate our vision to see the divine in this world, not just wait for it in the next. The evangelical obsession with post-death heaven is a stumbling block to recognizing heaven here and now, while many mainline institutions stumble over their inflexibility, small thinking, and obsessions with order, as though heaven is only found when we light the candles the right way. Both instances belie a belief that God is principally concerned only with human life, squeezing Jesus, through whom all things were made, into a field of vision too narrow for Divine Presence.
A human-centric theology forsakes the heartbeat of God found in nature. Ironically, the unchurched often see the Holy Spirit clearly in the beauty of nature, though they’d use different words. I am increasingly convinced that the Body of Christ is not limited to humans, but includes the entire ecology of God.
For example: This past Sunday the forecast called for rain at Water and Wilderness Church (my church plant in DC) and it looked like worship would be small and very wet. We’re gonna get through this quickly so we don’t get soaked I thought. Instead, something extraordinary happened: the goslings were here!
The kids saw them first and the little furry babies stopped us in our tracks as we oohed and ahhed over the new additions to the ecology of our church. Later communion came to a halt as we saw a big group of them swimming single file in the river. Some time later our awe turned to worry as we saw one lonely distressed gosling swimming upriver with no parent in sight. It was so lost, completely alone, and struggling mightily. Lord have I been there.
There was nothing we could do but watch in sadness as this poor gosling kept at it, swimming alone against the current. We continued our worship with an odd dismay at the plight of this poor gosling. And then someone said “Look!!” And we all looked. There was the momma goose, swimming downriver toward her brood, with the lost duck a few feet behind. “She went back and found him—that’s wild love!”
Wild love indeed. Holy Spirit love. We don’t know the relational depths of geese. One could easily say it was simply a programmed instinct from thousands of years of evolution. That could be true. But it also could be the present love of God manifest in a mother’s for her children. What I know is that a group of us watched from the bank as the Spirit showed us what it looks like to be lost and to be found, to search, and to find what you’ve lost.
It turns out we are not orphans. Never have been. We have God, we have one another, and we have this magnificent natural world which reflects God at every turn. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, is Wild Love. This week I pray you see that Wild Love in expected and unexpected ways.
Upcoming Events
May 13, 7pm (zoom): Online Book Launch Party. Help celebrate the book! Sign up for the link here
May 14, 7:30pm: Beer and Hymns. Have a great time and sing songs with friends. Kbird DC, 1333 P St NW
May 26, 7pm, Titanic Memorial, DC: Sunset Eucharist
May 31, 3:30pm: Pre-church kayaking at Fletcher’s Cove/Boathouse
July 18-19: Overnight canoe trip on the Shenandoah River. Sign up here.
Thank you for telling this story with so much love in it. It was an amazing and beautiful moment of inspiration to see this little gosling reclaimed and loved back to his family. A perfect illustration of the scripture you highlight here. Indeed we are not orphans! — Oh! and that picture of your book - priceless!
The Good Shepard... live, starring the Geese! ❤️