Feathers

I went for a walk this morning and found a red kite feather along the path: long, brick red (ie, orange-brown, not red at all) and a bit tatty along the edge.

Red kite feathers are not uncommon where I live. There are plenty of red kites round here (small and furries of the world, beware), and they regularly replace their feathers to keep them in top nick.

Further along, I found a shorter feather: black, with a white band across the middle. Magpie.

Then I found another.

And another.

Then quite a lot of smaller feathers all together.

Hmmn. Not stray feathers from an annual moult. More like the work of fox.

‘Lovely story,’ you say, ‘but what’s that got to do with me?’

We all of us lose our feathers too – not actual feathers of course, unless you’re some kind of bizarre bird-human hybrid. (Or a budgie who’s learned to read. Now there’s a worrying thought.)

We lose feathers in the natural course of living – stuff happens that hurts us, or worries us, or disappoints us – and it wears our feathers. We’re not able to fly so well. We’re less able to cope with other hurts, worries, disappointments. We’re vulnerable.

This is normal. This is life. You are not a failure because you’re struggling. The only people who never struggle are shop dummies. Life = struggle. Jesus said so. “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart; I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16:33)

All birds moult. It’s part of being a bird. I can’t imagine they like it – they don’t fly so well while they’re moulting, and they look pretty ropey (some look frankly hilarious) – but it is part of life. And it doesn’t last for ever.

Same with us. Over more or less time, we cope with the trouble. We get through it. We have a chat with a friend, or some time out, or a good cry and half a packet of hobnobs, and, eventually, we regrow our feathers. We repair. We learn to cope.

They same time heals everything. It’s not true. Some hurts never heal, but we find ways around, ways to live. We regrow our feathers.

I imagine the magpie feathers I found came from a bird that ended up as someone’s dinner. The red kite feather didn’t. It came from a bird that is not flying as elegantly right now as it did last week, not turning as quickly, a bit hefty on the landing. But in a month or two, the flight feathers will have regrown, and it’ll be OK again.

More than OK. It will soar and glide even better than before. Renewed, restored, made whole again.

Is anyone feeling hurt? Sick in body or mind? Got a weight of guilt on your heart? Turn to God and turn to your Christian brothers and sisters. God hears and God heals. Renewed, restored, made whole again.

James 5:13-16

Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.

The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up, and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.