Top of the Morning with Mourning Doves

DAILY CHALLENGES AND DOVES

I have been reading a lot about Ignatian Spirituality lately and feel drawn to the concept of finding God in everything throughout the day. Over the past month I have faced many challenges as my health which eight months ago I would have classified as excellent as seemingly gone south. However this is not a lament about my condition and challenges, but a look into finding God in all things.

Over the last week a couple of mourning doves have frequented our backyard and danced their love ballad in the magnolia tree next door. I wake up to the male's song every morning as I keep my window open nightly to cool off the heat that accumulates in the house during the day.

DOVES AND THE BIBLE

From what I have researched the mourning dove's song is one of lament (1). The coo, coo, coo, sound evoked from the male as he puffs up his chest is a welcome to the new day for me.   Now I know that some people find the doves song annoying as they struggle to get that extra hour of sleep, I find it as a chance to rest in the moment. The love birds continue their courtship in the afternoon on the utility wires and sometimes around my tomato plants as they rummage the ground for food. These moments allow me to focus not on my problems but on the scale of God's creations both large and small.

Symbolically the dove plays an integral role in the Bible. Peace, gentleness and hope are common themes. For myself during these particularly challenging times, I am drawn to the message of hope. No matter what discomfort I may have I find myself resting in the peace of the moment and the short song sang by the now resident male dove musician.

Being every inquisitive I did some more research on the history of doves in biblical texts. I stumbled upon a fascinating article The Enduring Symbolism of Doves: From ancient icon to Biblical Mainstay found on the Biblical Archaeology Society's website. Apparently doves are not only found in various texts but also accompanying humans in iconographic works of art. Doves are also found on coins as well. Perhaps the one of the most popular reference to the bird lies in the book of Genesis as Noah sends out the dove to find land and the bird returns on the third attempt with an olive branch in its mouth. Of equal importance in the New Testament is the imagery of Holy Spirit descending on Jesus as he is baptized by John in the River Jordan. There are many more references to doves from the birds being brought to the temple as a sacrifice to Jesus driving out those who sold doves in the temple. All that being said, next time you hear or see a dove think of the symbolic nature of this beautiful bird as it coos its love song to its mate.