The Kingfisher

Lesley's Blog

The kingfisher came again today, sat on the fence and looked at the lake. As always, my heart did a little dance when I saw him. 

It was early spring the last time he visited, sat on the wire close to our small koi pond and peered at the fish. We see lots of birds on and around the lake and our garden but it is the kingfisher that thrills me. The stately herons and energetic humming birds are delightful but it is the kingfisher who makes me catch my breath and brings a special smile to face.

Out of my interest in Jungian Psychology and my work with dream interpretation I love to delve into the meaning of symbols so I looked up Kingfisher. I learned that when this lovely bird arrives in our life it brings the energy of enjoyment, prosperity and love, challenging us to dive into something new, beckoning us to take the plunge with enthusiam. I'm certainly good with that as long as it is not the bird that is diving into our koi pond with great enthusiasm for our fish.

But I wanted to take a deeper plunge so I began to play with the word Kingfisher. What came to mind was the biblical stories about Jesus (who is often thought of as King) telling the fishermen whom he was "recruiting" as disciples to "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men". Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee and commandered the fishing boat of Simon (Peter) and Andrew from which to speak to the crowd who had been following him. After he had finished teaching he told the men to go back into the deeper part of the lake and recast their nets. They had been fishing all night and caught nothing so they were probably a bit miffed at the request but complied in any case. Much to their suprise they caught a huge number of fish. After this miracle, so the story tells, the fishermen left everything and followed Jesus. 

I am certainly not a biblical scholar and have not looked up what the scholarly understanding of this story is. I am only curious at this point with what it might mean for the "King" to be himself a "fisher of men" and to make the disciples also "fishers of men". It seems important that one of the symbols for Christ was that of the fish, used by the early Christians, who were often persecuted, to identify each other.   

Being a fisherman is an ancient profession, often fraught with danger and the humbling experiences of coming home empty handed. It certainly teaches patience and a sense that we are not in control in a way that we might like to be. We have to turn up, seek and wait.

It seems to me that maybe that is the mysterious dance that occurs between whatever we think of as God and ourself. "God" is always there, seeking and waiting for us but when we long for the Presence it can feel as elusive as fish can be. We look, we search and try to be patient but the fish seems to have hidden itself or relocated to another stream, another river, another ocean or disappeared completely to another universe. The "Christ" cannot be found or caught. The "fish" is not present to us. Then, when we least expect it, just when we are giving up, when we try again in the depths, the "fish" is there and there in abundance. How wonderful it feels and in that moment we know that it is just the "right" time.   

We too are like elusive fish but for very different reasons. God is always there, the ever patient fisherperson and will keep on seeking and waiting. Our disappearances are deliberate. We hide, we run away, we refuse to take the bait and be caught but the Divine Kingfisher is ever patient and when we finally swim by we will be gently embraced into that peace that passeth all understanding.

But we must remember to have no expectations for they create attachments and we long to hold onto those amazing feelings and experiences that are not there to cling to. We must catch and release and allow ourselves to be caught and released. The fish and the fisherperson will always be there to embrace in that beautiful dance again but we won't know when. Just turn up, seek and wait with patience.