Happy New Year! Yesterday, we said goodbye to Narnia and replaced it with a whole new allegorical creation in our window…
‘Can you hear the call?’ is the opening line of a poem which we’ve displayed on the floor of the farmyard barn our bottom left hand domestic goose is about to leave. The poem brings to life his story through his own words:
Can you hear the call
as the wild geese fly over?
Its sound stirs me awake
to a future I can now remember.
I was made for more than farmyard walls
enclosing safe, muddy ground.
I was made for more than domestic comfort,
more than feed looked for and found.
I was made to hear the call;
to know its meaning and act on this belief –
that I was made to follow
the lead wild goose’s lead.
So I don’t just hear the call,
I listen.
And I let freedom’s stirring win.
Feet leave drudgery for joy
and my wild flight adventure begins!
It’s life-filled belonging,
it’s height and speed and view,
It’s rush of air in lungs
so now I’m also asking you:
Can you hear the call
as the wild geese fly over you?
Can you hear the call?
And are you coming too?
The poem is inspired by the truth its author (Liz Baddaley) first heard from the artist who has created our window’s flying geese (Barbara Macnish). Even if a domestic goose has been held in captivity all its life, if wild geese fly over and it hears their call, it will respond and take to the skies…
This story has subsequently been shared again and again in our community and has spoken to a number of our pray-ers on different levels…
But our desire in bringing it to life in our window is to invite those beyond our walls to think – at the start of another new year – about listening to the call to more that rings out clear to each one of us, if only we will listen, understand and respond…
You can have a look through more of our windows by visiting our art of love made known page, or by browsing through this category on our blog.