Saturday, April 23, 2011

Burned Heart ... And an Easter Message


At about 5:30 this morning I heard loud voices outside. I opened the door, and saw a group of young males attempting to exit the driveway of the abandoned church property across the street. One of them ran into the gate in the dark and nearly knocked himself senseless.

After it got light, I walked over to check things out. As I got closer to the building, I noticed a peculiar smell - something was burning. It turned out to be a pile of debris in a corner in one of the rooms ...
I ran home, grabbed a bucket and doused the smoldering pile with water from the nearby pond.

In taking pictures of the aftermath, I noticed several indistinct hearts.
Sad ones.

But the REAL tragedy was yet to be revealed ...


Apparently the vandals' night of "fun" had disturbed the family of owls nesting in the eaves of the building ... and one of the babies had fallen out. It was still breathing, and was shivering in the cold.

I nudged it onto a small piece of carpet, and pulled it into the warmth of the sunshine. Then I cried.

When I called the wildlife people, they said that's all that could be done. Sometimes the parent owls will feed the fallen babies ... it may yet survive.


As I left the building, the early morning sun shone through a broken skylight - and I saw this cross.

I was faced with a myriad of emotions. Anger at the young people who caused this carnage ... sorrow at the predicament of the owl and it's family ... and joy at the cross that was revealed in the aftermath.

Then I realized ... isn't that what Easter is about?
Life.
Death.
Resurrection.
Joy.
Hope.
Jesus.

12 comments:

Terry said...

Howdy Clytie
Amen my friend you have summed it all up so perfectly.
I am glad you were able to provide some comfort for the precious little owl as well as make sure the fire would not start up again.
God bless you sweet lady .
Thank you for sharing your heart with us .
May your Easter be filled with many wonderful moments of special miracles for you and yours.
I am so happy I was finally able to stay signed in with google today .
I have really missed blogland these past several weeks.
Looking forward to getting caught up with your blog posts as well as your gift for finding hearts.
Happy hugs with love from Texas
Until next time
Happy Trails

Anonymous said...

Aloha. Happy Easter to you and your family. What a tragedy to happen. Mahalo for sharing. If you want to use the photo from my post that is fine. HERE is where you can find the photo on my flickr account. I hope you enjoy and I would love to see the post when you use it. Mahalo

TexWisGirl said...

teenagers with nothing better to do... i'm sorry. and worse, setting a fire! poor owlet.

Patty said...

Amen to that and Happy Easter to you and your family.

Judy said...

Clytie, you have summed it up perfectly! I hope the little owl survives. Last week, I found a couple of frozen raccoon babies. They were just lying by the path. I have no idea how they got there, but they were either frozen solid or in full rigor. Nothing I could do for them...

JANN said...

Such a sad beautiful story. I hope the little owl baby makes it and lives. What a beautiful heart you have and thanks for sharing it Clytie. Have a blessed Easter.
Sprinkled with love ♥ ƸӜƷ·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.☆ Many Blessings ♥ And A Happy Easter! ̆... Lot's Of Joy... (¯`♥´¯) .♥.•*¨`*♫....• ´*.¸.•´♥

Lois said...

Thank goodness you were there Clytie. I hope the owl survives. Have a wonderful Easter my friend!

Rekha said...

Life is a series of ups and downs and you have shown that beautifully with your pictures and words...Happy Easter.

Unknown said...

All the feelings you had this Easter, Clytie the friends of Jesus must have had too. Talking about a real Easter experience!

(you know that this is a new blog of Jeannette St.G, don't you?)

Dani said...

oh, Clyie, this is a sad story but you made it so beautiful. I hope the owl survives.

Easter blessing to you.
Sending love
D.

Anonymous said...

Amazing post! The photo of the cross-reflection took my breath away, as did your summing-up of it all as an Easter event. I hope the wee owl has survived. Good for you to be there for it.

Beth Niquette said...

Oh, Sissy. Oooohhh...that is so tragic. I'm glad you came along to make this little owlette's last moments warm and comfortable. How kind you are.

How cruel some people are.

Your narration of this series of pictures is so touching, so heart breaking, yet so hopeful. I think you are such a gifted writer.

This brought tears to my eyes.