Signs of hope

For the past few weeks I've enjoyed watching several ducks, hawks and Canada geese in a little seasonal pond near my office. I know very little about birds, really, but these have been fascinating to me because they have always seemed to arrive in pairs. The hawks perch on nearby branches, occasionally swooping down when something catches their eye. The mallards float silently in the shallows, practically standing on their heads in the water when searching for food. The geese are the most vocal, typically giving me a piece of their mind when I have the temerity to speak to them, and marching around the pond with a magisterial demeanor.

Jesus once mentioned that God knows when the tiniest sparrow falls -- an astonishing image of providential care. He also said that his followers should be as 'wise as serpents and innocent as doves.' And when he came up the bank of the Jordan River, after John baptized him there, the Spirit perched on him like a dove: a sign of peace, a sign of innocence, a sign of non-violence, and -- remembering the Noah story -- a sign of hope.