The Pigeon

On New Year's Eve at about 10:30pm, my dear uncle passed on to join Jesus and celebrate his New Year kicking up Gold Dust!

His name was Clifton, but I called him Uncle Kip. He was 93 years young and was such a wonderful, Christian man! He loved being outdoors and loved ALL animals & people! A few years ago, he fell and broke his leg attempting to put birdseed into his bird feeder. He was a simple man with a HUGE heart! Humble describes him perfectly! He was my daddy's oldest brother. He lived all of his life in the same town and raised two great children! He was married, for 67 years, to the love of his life.

His graveside service was yesterday. As his family began planning his funeral ceremonies, his daughter attempted to locate a homing pigeon service to present a symbolic "bird ceremony" at his outdoor service. I had never heard of this presentation before this week. Anyway, what happens in that ceremony sounded so sweet. Four birds....doves, pigeons, or some type that have been trained to fly back to their home..... are brought to the service. At the end of the prayer, they are released.
One by one, they exit their cage and circle the casket until all four are circling the casket together. Then so very quietly they fly away together. This sweet little ceremony is meant to symbolize the Father, Son & Holy Spirit and the 4th bird is to symbolize the loved one that has passed on.
My cousin was unable to locate this type of ceremony in our rural area. She did find one man who offered this service, but, he was about 60 miles away and was concerned that his birds would not find their way back to his home. Consequently, he declined to come.
She accepted that this symbolic ceremony was merely impossible to create for her daddy's funeral, and let it go.

The service began at 11am. Very quietly, a pigeon flew onto the tent above my uncle's casket. The memorial service began and the pigeon stayed. The service continued and the pigeon stayed. The pastor had prayer and the pigeon flew onto one of the pallbearer's shoulder. It sat there until the prayer was finished. It then flew back on top of the tent. That sweet bird stayed there throughout the entire service. It perched directly in front of where I was standing. I gazed into it's eyes as it watched everyone gathered around to offer their final respects to my Uncle Kip and to our family. It appeared to be "one of the people there to offer its respects too".

After the service, we were all mesmerized by this little bird and we watched it move around the cemetery. It was not, at all, afraid of us. Slowly, everyone left the grave. Even the pigeon. I am certain it flew back to its familiar place. But for that half hour, that pigeon gave a performance of a lifetime for my uncle's daughter, who tried so desperately to provide a sweet service for her daddy. Although, this wasn't exactly what she had planned .....it was better, in my opinion. It was a simple thing....just like my uncle.

You know, God is in the simple things too. God cares about the little stuff too. God cared that Uncle Kip's daughter wanted birds at her daddy's funeral.
And HE made it happen!

Matthew 10:29 says in part ...."but not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. "
Thank you, God, for your Omniscience! Thanks for being at the center of all that we need..... at all times! AMEN!