Of roosters and hens...

Those cute little chicks we bought in the spring are now ten hens and four- that’s right- four roosters. The hens will soon be laying and the roosters have begun roostering. The competition amongst the roosters is heating up as they crow the morning sun light into being. Funnily enough, there is a bass, two baritones and one tenor voice. The tenor is just beginning his singing career. Roosters have to learn to crow so there is a lot of time spent in practice, usually beginning at five a.m. or so, a tad early for us. You have to “go to bed with the chickens” to be able to get up with them. Rain slows them down but being dedicated crowers, it does not stop them. Tomorrow three of the roosters will return to the breeder who offered a money back guarantee for them. We will see if one rooster will be quieter. One of our house guests said last week that she was a firm supporter of gun control but she had begun to reconsider her position at five a.m. that morning.
The chickens have developed personalities. Michael feeds and waters them twice a day. They know him and he knows them. Some are more curious and some are quieter. Chicken fights... two chickens will swell up and run at each other, bumping chests and fussing... happen with no damage to body or soul. Everybody is figuring out their place in the flock. Some are leaders and some are followers. Some are mouthy and others just want to hunt for bugs in peace and quiet. Every day the chickens gather in the shade and nestle down next to each other for nap time. Every body has a place and the flock is quiet and safe.
The next bag of feed Michael buys will be laying mash and then the egg production begins. Chickens have to grow up enough to lay. Some are early layers while others take longer to begin. It will take the right kind of feed with ground up oyster shells for calcium, as well as maturity for the chickens to lay. We have been collecting egg cartons to share eggs. With ten hens, we can expect more eggs than we can eat so like zucchini in the summertime, eggs may begin appearing in unlocked cars at church.
Last night our little worship group had the first of three meetings to tell our stories, say what we need and get ready to make a decision about our next step. Some of us are weary still and low energy. Some of us need more than we have. Some of us are focused and ready. All of us are committed to each other, our community, our communion, our flock. There will be one more meeting for sharing and then a third meeting where we make a decision on which fork in the road to take. Our goal is to be up from our resting time and traveling on by the first of September.
One of our group who had not been a part of our old church observed that we had changed. No longer defined by the hurt and anger she felt early on in our time together, we are beginning to look to our future and are able to speak our needs, our must haves, our hopes and dreams again. It scares us to death because we know how much we stand to lose. Some where in here, God is at work, pushing us towards each other, moving among us with hope, love and joy.
When you have made leaps of faith and ended up at the bottom of a cliff, broken and bleeding, leaping off into the unknown again requires trust that God is always with you in the flying times and in the broken times... that somehow you will be able to say as Paul did, all things work together for good for those who love the Lord. And as Carolyn reminded us, a little wine for the stomachs sake (or the soul’s sake) was also part of Paul’s theology.
So we will meet again to eat and drink, weep and giggle, crow and cluck, nestle up next to each other, pray, give thanks and beg for help. We will rest in the shade of the outstretched wings of our Mother Hen who is always watching over us, loving and caring for us in brokeness and in wholeness. We know to Whom we belong and we are God’s little chicks growing up into hens and roosters. Our trust is in the Lord who made heaven and earth. It is enough, more than enough as we live in faith, with hope for our future and joy in our present. Thanks be to God.