Never say never

Part of a continuing series inspired by sights of Kauai.
Feral chickens run all over the Hawaiian island of Kauai, in part because their natural enemy, the mongoose, was never introduced onto this island.  Go in a tourist shop, and you’ll find chicken-themed souvenirs right next to the shell beads and Hawaiian shirts.

For me, the birds prompted remembrance of that sad, cool night a panicked man tried to keep near his spiritual leader. The man had once vowed he’d never deny a connection to his leader.  But his leader, wise beyond this world, predicted, “Before the rooster crows twice, you’ll deny me three times.”

 

The unthinkable happened:  the wise, gentle leader was arrested by thugs.  The man crept behind them as they took his leader to an official’s house.  The night was chilly, and someone had lit a fire. Cold, probably trembling with fear, he slunk near the fire to warm up

A servant girl—not a well-armed thug—noticed him and said, “This man was with the arrested man.” The man shot back, “I don’t know him.”

A little later, someone echoed her hunch, “You also are one of this man’s followers.”

“I am not!” the man insisted.

 

About an hour later, someone else voiced suspicions: “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.” The man declared, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just then, a rooster began crowing, and the man remembered his boast. His arrested leader, a captive of ruffians and perturbed religious officials, turned and looked at the man. It was more than the follower could bear.

The man, named Peter, left the scene, heaving with bitter tears. Peter had failed his Savior, broken his boast, revealed the flaws of his character. Like any of us.Peter learned his bitter lesson well. Two letters he wrote after he rose to become a leader in the new sect of “The Way” (later called Christianity), are full of practical ways to follow Christ. I wonder if Peter was thinking of his rooster-announced failures when he wrote:

In this [living hope in Jesus Christ, vv.3-5] you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:6-7) 

Will we ever face the test of the rooster’s crow? When opportunity comes to share about our faith, will we shrink back? Or use innocent idioms? 

At the Oregon junior college shootings in October, the random victims were asked to state their religion.  Those who said “Christian” got a killing bullet.  I may never face that extreme test. But every day brings tests to act and speak as someone not ashamed of Jesus Christ.

Hen-ce forth and never more

Sunday morning, en route to a bran muffin, I heard clucking outside the kitchen window and was shocked to see a reddish brown chicken strutting around the fenced back yard.

We do not live in the country. We’re surrounded by houses, except for a vacant lot behind us where a tree removal service dumps wood to cure and later sell for firewood.

Our cat was hugging the back door, desperate to get in and afraid of this beast that outweighed and could outpeck him.

I thought of that ancient Chinese proverb: “You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair.” In our case, we couldn’t prevent a chicken from strutting through the open gate to our back yard—or so I assumed, because our fence is five feet tall. I couldn’t imagine this plump lump flying any higher than a foot.

I put some wild bird seed in a cup, make sure it had water, and realized that other than visiting some nearby urban farms, there wasn’t much I could do until Monday. Urban Farm #1 had a burro and goats, but no chickens. Urban Farm #2 boasted a horse, goats and chickens, but not reddish brown ones.

On Monday I entered an ad in Craigslist, and immediately got scam Emails inviting me to amazing business opportunities (I forgot to disable the Email reply feature). I sent another ad with photo to our local newspaper, but it wouldn’t run until Tuesday. Then I called the Humane Society with a “found animal” report. After causing the officer to laugh hysterically, I got the report filed.

In the meantime, Henny Penny (as I was now calling the chicken) was wearing trails into our back yard as it paced back and forth. And our cat was the one jumping the fence as soon as we let it out—to get as far away as possible from this intruder on his territory.

On Tuesday morning, as I hung up laundry, Henny Penny kept coming near me. Finally (as an experienced petter of cats) I leaned over and stroked its back. Immediately it squatted as though wanting more. I realized this had to be a pet—but whose?

My husband took a call from a man whose friend had told him about the ad. He asked if he could have the hen, since he lost four chickens to a dog attack. When he arrived, we realized he lived just around the corner, beyond the tangle of blackberry bushes and underbrush. This hen had survived the massacre of its family and managed to get over the fence to our yard.

Lured by chicken mash, Henny Penny (real name “Kibbles,” because it likes dog food) was grabbed and taken home.

Well, the sky didn’t fall while Henny Penny paced our back yard, and I’m glad the story had a happy ending. I never thought I’d foster-care a chicken, but I was reminded of the observation of Proverbs 12:10: “A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal.” It makes me think of Eden and the perfect relationship and sweet companionship that Adam and Eve had with all of God’s creation.

Will there be animals in Heaven? As scripture speaks of the new heavens and the new earth, I ask why not? If they were in His original, perfect plan, why not again? By the way, Henny Penny didn’t leave an egg—or at least I didn’t find one in places where it nested. But who knows, next spring, when I’m cleaning out winter yard debris….