{"id":23100,"date":"2024-12-12T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/?p=23100"},"modified":"2026-02-09T08:27:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T14:27:43","slug":"an-advent-reflection-on-pigeons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/2024\/12\/12\/an-advent-reflection-on-pigeons\/","title":{"rendered":"An Advent Reflection on Pigeons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This Advent, I\u2019m reflecting on pigeons and finding an odd comfort in envisioning the Holy Spirit as a city bird. The violence of poverty in cities and the injustices in our world this year have me looking to these small and fraught creatures, surviving in the cracks of discarded places.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In my neighborhood of Hyde Park in Chicago, tucked in a corner of the concrete underpass where the 56th street Metra train stop is, a pigeon has made her home. She is all white with little gray splotches and red-orange feet, except one of her legs is just a stub; she lost some toes along the way. She is a city bird\u2014she takes baths and drinks water from the same dirty puddles. Her eyes are little shining night skies. She watches the joggers and bikers and train-goers, skidding away when they get too close.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"677\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/pigeon-in-city-677x1024.png\" alt=\"pigeon in the city\" class=\"wp-image-23103\" style=\"width:440px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/pigeon-in-city-677x1024.png 677w, https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/pigeon-in-city-198x300.png 198w, https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/pigeon-in-city-99x150.png 99w, https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/pigeon-in-city-768x1162.png 768w, https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/pigeon-in-city-1015x1536.png 1015w, https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/pigeon-in-city-1353x2048.png 1353w, https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/pigeon-in-city.png 1410w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 677px) 100vw, 677px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pigeon in the city, photo by Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDoves are the same as pigeons\u201d\u2014this was a quote at the beginning of one of the chapters in the book <em>The<\/em> <em>Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants<\/em>. Something about this quote struck me when I read the book in seventh grade, and I wrote the quote down in my journal. Maybe it was a revelation and mystery that so-called beauty and so-called ugliness could be the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pigeons, particularly rock pigeons, the kind that live in Chicago and other cities, are dependent on humans, which is why you don\u2019t really find them in the wild. They were domesticated by humans thousands of years ago, and were brought to North America by European settlers who carried them here as pets and food sources. Eventually, along the way, they lost their popularity as pets and were dumped into the streets to fend for themselves, making them feral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rock pigeons contain a tiny magnetic organ in their beaks that helps them feel the Earth\u2019s magnetic pull, giving them strong navigational skills and making them able to return home from 600 miles away. That\u2019s why pigeons have been used in wars, including WWI and II, to deliver communications and information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite their (forced) involvement in war, white pigeons and doves in particular have long been symbols of peace. There are <a href=\"https:\/\/whitewaterdoves.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">businesses<\/a> that sell white pigeons that people can release during weddings and funerals. <a href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/pests-or-pets-a-history-of-how-pigeons-took-over-the-windy-city-and-what-organizations-are-doing-about-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Chava Sonnier<\/a>, a volunteer at Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, said <a href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/pests-or-pets-a-history-of-how-pigeons-took-over-the-windy-city-and-what-organizations-are-doing-about-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in a 2019 article<\/a> of white pigeons when they are released: \u201cBecause they\u2019re white there is no camouflaging themselves. So, often if they are not rescued first, they just get eaten by predators. If you\u2019re downtown and you see spotted pigeons\u2026 some that have white on them, they\u2019re probably the offspring of a dumped wedding pigeon who was able to survive and married a city pigeon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/white-pigeon-1024x685.png\" alt=\"white pigeon among darker pigeons\" class=\"wp-image-23102\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pigeons, photo courtesy of Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For pigeons, companionship is survival. Sometimes I scroll through the <a href=\"https:\/\/greatlakespigeonrescue.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Great Lakes Pigeon Rescue <\/a>website, looking through their pictures and names, and often the pigeons come in pairs. They are creatures that become incredibly attached to their life-partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last Sunday, at a house church I\u2019ve been attending called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moveablefeastcommunity.org\/home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Moveable Feast<\/a>, we did a <em>visio divina\u2014<\/em>\u201csacred seeing\u201d\u2014exercise together<em>, <\/em>in which we engaged in imaginative prayer while contemplating a piece of art. The art that our pastor chose was a print by the Catholic Worker artist Sarah Fuller. It depicts Mary\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/sarahfullerart.com\/gallery\/religious-art\/#jp-carousel-117\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">annunciation<\/a> in a modern context. Mary is a young teenager, reading a book on her bed in her small room with art on the walls. At the window, a bird (that to me looks like a pigeon) sits on the windowsill and gazes at her. She gazes back; her face has an expression of curiosity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I love the correlation between this bird and the angel Gabriel, and how God chooses, specifically, both a bird that is overlooked on the streets and a totally ordinary teenage girl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There&#8217;s an intimacy and understanding in this image. I think of what I know about pigeons: Did it have a magnetic pull toward Mary? Was it hoping to find a companion and friend to survive this harsh world with?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Holy Spirit wants to make a home in us, surviving in the dirty and rejected places, constantly pulled toward and searching for us, as close as our breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>For more on Advent, see Sister Julia&#8217;s prayer service <a href=\"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/resources\/praying-in-the-dark-an-advent-prayer-service\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Praying in the Dark<\/a> or Greg Little&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/2022\/12\/15\/advent-readiness-and-mutual-hospitality\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Advent Readiness and Mutual Hospitality<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/blogger-cassidy-klein-1.jpg\" alt=\"Messy Jesus Business blog contributor Cassidy Klein wearing green sweater and scarf in front of Chicago skyline\" class=\"wp-image-20204\" srcset=\"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/blogger-cassidy-klein-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/blogger-cassidy-klein-1-113x150.jpg 113w, https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/blogger-cassidy-klein-1-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Cassidy Klein<\/strong> is a journalist, writer, and editor based in Chicago. She has worked as an editorial assistant at&nbsp;Sojourners&nbsp;magazine and&nbsp;U.S. Catholic&nbsp;magazine. She grew up in Denver, Colorado and studied journalism and philosophy at PLNU in San Diego. Find more of her work at&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/cassidyrklein.weebly.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cassidyrklein.weebly.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This Advent, I\u2019m reflecting on pigeons and finding an odd comfort in envisioning the Holy Spirit as a city bird. The violence of poverty in cities and the injustices in our world this year have me looking to these small and fraught creatures, surviving in the cracks of discarded places.&nbsp; In my neighborhood of Hyde&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":149585910,"featured_media":23102,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[698756414,2178641],"tags":[698755378,739106,5154,698755374,698756793,33380,698756794,24737,698756791,698756790,9379,853,8408,698756792],"class_list":["post-23100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prayer","category-prayer-and-spirituality","tag-advent","tag-annunciation","tag-chicago","tag-community","tag-gabriel","tag-holy-spirit","tag-hyde-park","tag-mary","tag-moveable-feast","tag-pigeons","tag-poverty","tag-prayer","tag-reflection","tag-visio-divina"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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