By Leon Bent –
It’s springtime! It’s was also Ash Wednesday. I gaze out of my “Study” in reverence, admiration and awe at the great Teacher and Preacher: Nature!
The ‘Karji’ and Tamarind trees shed their leaves in abject surrender and absolute abandonment, even as I try to do the same during the Lenten Season. Jesus’ cries of anguish at Gethsemane tug at my compassionate, empathetic, heart: “Father, take this chalice of suffering away from me – but not my will but your will be done!” (Mt. 26:42; Mk. 14:36; Lk. 22:42). And Jesus’ cry of intense surrender and heart-rending pain from the Cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”(Mt.27:46; Mk.15: 34; Ps. 22:1), strike at the very chords of my melting, flaming heart!
The tiny Indian Nightingale, in greyish-black-n-white attire, choreographed a dance, then, sweetly, scintillatingly, with mellow voice, puts me in a trance-like frame of mind, insisting that, I be joyful and rejoice in the Lord, and not be mired in sack-cloth and ashes. The mellifluous Cuckoo rings my heart mesmerizingly, like a thousand temple bells, whose faint echo I hear, long after the ringing has stopped; reminding me to pray, fast and indulge in almsgiving.
In a burst of colour, as resplendent as a peacock, the Kingfisher, brilliant in greenish-blue- brown-white-red, urges me not to desert Jesus, as all the ‘fishers of men,’ his disciples, did, save beloved John,and the three “Marys”/women, (Mt.27:61; Mk.15:40; Jn.19:25-27), through his passion,‘Way of the Cross’ death and burial.The brown-black and red-n-white-hooded Bulbul, in short spurts of serene, soothing melody, urges me to turn a translucently-glitzy-green new leaf, like the Karji and Tamarind trees.
The Myna, brown-black-white, in monk-hermit-nun-like habit, invites me to a desert spirituality:frugality, aridity, barrenness, desolateness,hostility, solitude and silence under a fiery sun by day and a starry, moon-lit night, make me a “Flower-bearing and Fruit-laden-oasis” of a person!The well-camouflaged blurred-brown-n-green Woodpecker nails our petitions, intercessions, burdens and sins on the “Tree of Life” (Cross) unceasingly, and calls me to mission, like God called Samuel, in sweet tones, to announce salvation to all peoples. And, finally, the Golden Oriol, with stately and glorious-golden, preened plumage, transports me in a flash, to a cinematic freeze of Resurrection brilliance.
And, even while I am lifted heavenward, white, mildly-perfumed, milky-white Karji flowers rain down on me, as if in blessing; while the delicate pinkish-white, lingering scent of Tamarind delicacies shower their benediction! The sacred is in the ordinary: to see this clearly is poetry, prophecy and religion – all in one!
What unmerited, amazing grace from above! Truly, Nature takes me, like a darting arrow,on a mini-mystical-contemplative-Lenten-Retreat, to the innermost core of God’s heart! “It is finished!” (Lk. 23:46; Ps. 31:5).The Greek word “Tetelestai” is a victor’s shout! So, Jesus died with a shout of victory on his lips and a sweet song of redemption in his passionate heart! I feel a-tingle, mightily euphoric! The shrill cries of the eagle rent the air, like peals of thunder, to add sublime luminosity to the moment!
Now, I am ready for the Triduum of great Feasts: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and fifty days later, to Pentecost! The familiar, humble Sparrow ‘tweets’ a message of God’s covenanted love which links all the four great and spiritually productive feasts.All through Lent, the high-swiftly-flying parrot screeches its message of “Repentance-n-Forgiveness,” quite like the “lone voice in the wilderness,” John the Baptist!
The innocent, peaceful Pigeon coos-n-woos me to offer Shalom, nothing-broken-nothing-missing, wholeness, and healing to a bruised, mangled, profusely-bleeding world!
Birds have inspired humans throughout history with their ability to rise above the Earth. Birds soaring through the air stir our souls, motivating us to rise above earthly concerns and learn about the spiritual realm. Birds and angels share a bond, because both symbolize the beauty of spiritual growth.
Birds symbolize key aspects of spirituality, writes Lesley Morrison in “The Healing Wisdom of Birds: An Everyday Guide to Their Spiritual Songs & Symbolism.” They symbolize freedom, elegance, expansiveness, and a keen vision for divine inspiration, divine intervention and communion with God!
Birdsongs and all Creation have a mystery that calms, exalts, informs, intervenes, enlightens and transforms spiritually – a hotline to the Living God!
Now, this gold nugget! I conclude this Lenten reflection with the reassuring, audacious and prophetic words of Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil (Vidyajyoti, Jan.2013, p 18):“The world, in its present form is passing away” (I Cor.7:31), and a new world is being born in our own times. We are called to be vibrant heralds of this New Enlightenment. At this glorious moment, do we have the depth and daring to point to Jesus, as the brilliant,aesthetically hued birds with their heavenly voices,calling us back to Jesus,do?
And, finally this flourish! According to the post-Modern means of communication God is just a “WhatsApp” away!
Leon Bent is an ex-Seminarian and studied the Liberal Arts and Humanities, and Philosophy, from St. Pius X College, Mumbai. He holds Masters Degree in English Literature and Aesthetics. He has published three Books and have 20 on the anvil. He has two extensively “Researched” Volumes to his name: Hail Full of Grace and Matrimony: The Thousand Faces of Love. He won The Examiner, Silver Pen Award, 2000 for writing on Social Issues, the clincher being a Researched Article on Gypsies in India, published in an issue of the (worldwide circulation) Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection, New Delhi. On April, 28, 2018, Leon received the Cardinal Ivan Dias Award for a research paper in Mariology.