What follows is what Pearl thought and felt as she realized how she had hatched into a world that was at war.This is told from her point of view with the hope that it will help everyone look at things differently.
“The Struggle Between Good and Evil” illustration by the Author
We chickens and other birds were hatched into a world at war. It was not a war that we caused, nevertheless, we are casualties of that war.
People give special names to wars. They have not given an “official” name to this war. The closest name may be The War Between Good and Evil. Our Great Gardener made this beautifully perfect world for everything that has breath, but it is being invaded and slowly destroyed by Evil.
The forces of Good on the side of The Great Gardener and the forces of Evil on the side of The Absence of Love have been struggling with each other as far back as can be remembered or recorded by the songbirds of The Living Library.
“The Face of The Great Gardener (left) and the Face of The Absence of Love (right)” illustration by the Author
As a humble backyard chicken, this does not seem fair—not one single bit. At first, the unfairness made me quite angry. But then, I sat and thought and thought a bit more as I looked out at our beautiful garden.
This war seems quite unfair to us chickens. It must also seem quite unfair to children who are born into this world. None of us started the war. Nor can we can not stop it. The weakest are just its casualties.
But would it be fair to only see something as beautiful as the sun rising in the morning and filling the sky with color and the air with warmth?
Equally, would it be fair to only hear the timid little peeps of our babies as they hatch out into the world?
Pearl’s Wisdom: We must take the evil and its pain along with the good and its joy. They both will surely come our way.
“The Intertwining of Good and Evil” Illustration by the Author
“The Hands of God and Love Bringing Change” (or “The Hands of the One Known to Chickens as The Great Gardener’s Son Bringing Change”) Illustration by the Author
Those of you who have been with us for a few years know that we left WordPress to do a newsletter instead. That was through Revue owned by Twitter, and when Twitter was sold, Revue was closed. From there, we moved over to Substack, and I must say that Substack has been very disappointing as far as reader feedback. (Almost none for weeks and weeks!)
My chickens and I rely on feedback from our readers to know what works and what doesn’t work. This weekend, My Amazing Miss Pearl and I are putting our heads together to work on CHANGE! (It feels foreign to me and to Pearl, but we are doing this to benefit our readers.) We are working on this in WordPress because WordPress readers have always been good to us!
Above is Pearl’s suggestion for a suitable post illustration. In her words, “Change is always about bringing into existence something completely new and never done before!” Throughout Holy Week, we have been thinking about all of the CHANGE brought by God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who is known to Pearl and the other chickens as “The Great Gardener’s Son.”
We love and hold tightly to His giving hands, and we hope you will too.
Pearl insists that I share more with you about The Living Library. It took us a great deal of time to learn these things, but they do give hopefulness. Pearl thinks it would be good for us to gather up all that we have learned about The Living Library these past few years to share with our readers so that you can benefit as well.
If you have ever seen a tree in the springtime covered with colorful songbirds, you may have seen what is called a “Healing Tree.”
The feathers of the songbirds give the impression of glass Christmas ornaments when the sun shines on them, and this is sharply contrasted by the darker silhouettes of the tree limbs.
Before you are carried away by what you are seeing, you will definitely want to spend time listening to the songbirds who have assembled themselves there to sing. Listen as their notes sink into your heart.
You may be wondering how a Healing Tree is able to heal and who they are able to heal. A Healing Tree is for the healing of the Earth, and by healing the Earth, a Healing Tree is able to heal hundreds if not thousands of people and animals.
A Healing Tree starts out like any other tree—as a seed.
While it is up to a person to select a seed or seedling that will grow into a Healing Tree, the person does not know that this is what they are doing. No one truly wakes up and says, “Today I’m going to plant a Healing Tree! I’m going to grow a Healing Tree!”
What the person actually does is find a tree that is pleasant for sitting under while contemplating the ones who are loved. This is what happened in our own backyard.
At one time, there was a large pecan tree in our backyard beyond where our large chicken coop now stands. Before it was blown over by a harsh spring storm, The Grandfather had sat down under the tree and had daily prayed for his grandson, Nate.
Then one spring morning, Nate arrived with Teddy and his suitcase. While exploring the backyard and garden, Nate discovered a small seedling that had sprouted up. It would also grow into a pecan tree because it came from a nut seed made by the large pecan tree. Nate adopted it as his own without knowing that it truly was his own because of all the prayers with which the Grandfather had nourished it.
Although The Healing Tree would ensure Nate’s eventual happiness, it would never to be a wish-granting tree for Nate. In other words, he would never benefit by receiving a flashy new car or a pile of money from the tree, only the unseen happiness in his heart which he would pass along to others.
It is the songbirds themselves who make any tree into a healing tree. They do this by assembling as a group on its branches and then, simply singing. The songbirds must first feel the love that is poured out beneath the tree’s branches by a person, or they will not sing. The songbirds multiply the love they feel to fill the tree’s branches with it through their singing. It is the soaking in of that multiplied love that makes it a true Healing Tree.
It doesn’t not matter if the love is poured out for another in joyful presence or in sorrowful absence. Over time, a Healing Tree is able to change the feeling of sorrowful absence into joyful presence. This is the true healing that a Healing Tree performs.
Pearl realized this when she heard a wren begin a song soon after Blanche became sick and left us:
“Whenever someone changes, And you have to let them go, It leaves an echo of a memory Like a song you used to know.”
These words were picked up and sung again and again by the entire tree filled with songbirds helped Pearl to let go of the sorrow from Blanche’s leaving so that she could recover her joy again.
Assembling themselves like this is something that songbirds have done since chickens began to be kept on farms. This lets us know how important Healing Trees are to both songbirds and chickens.
Until Next Time: Why not think of yourself as a songbird on a Healing Tree? Think of yourself as someone who is here to help heal the people of the earth. Your words and your prayers can help turn their feelings of sorrow into feelings of joy. Watch for the multiplication of what is good and healing for the heart and spirit!
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