Mourning Dove

I can’t begin to tell you the number of times I have had a moment of revelation on my morning walks. I’m not talking about lightning strike, angels singing, heavens opening revelations - though there have been a couple of those! : ) I’m talking about reminders of simple truths or the coming together of pieces of a puzzle.

This morning was a puzzle piece kind of morning. I have been noticing lately how much I like it when the mourning dove takes flight. The sound she makes as she leaps into the air is like laughter. I have just been taking note of it on my walks and enjoying the moment of it. I noticed the contradiction of the laughter compared to her call when she is at rest which sounds sorrowful and so lends her her name, but I hadn’t given it much thought.

That’s usually how the revelations come about, through things I observe and take note of but don’t try to hard to figure out or see. I’ve learned the pieces will come together in their own time, at just the right time for me to absorb the learning they offer.

As I walked along this morning I once again came upon one of these lovely creatures. She took flight as I neared and I heard her joyous laughter. I thought again of the contrast of her joyful cry and her mournful one. That’s when the moment came. I wish I could describe it to you adequately, but it’s as if the pieces come together to form a key that opens a place within my heart where that learning fits. Everything pauses for a moment and I say, “Oh,” as I see the connections and the opening happens, I breathe it in and the lesson settles into my heart like the dove settling on her perch.

The lesson of the dove was a reminder of something I’ve written about many times, the bond between joy and grief. This morning it was timely for things I’m moving through in my life right now; moments of great joy intertwined with moments of sadness. What the mourning dove reminded me of was that the sadness is grounded and earthly and a natural part of the process, but that the joy filled laughter comes with taking flight.

I am about to take flight into a new chapter in my life and I will leap with glee into that flight, but I will also occasionally settle on my perch and let my mournful cry come. It won’t keep me from my flight though, any more than it keeps the dove from hers.