The Peckham Pheasant

Is not a pub…

It is a real pheasant, and it turned up in our church garden this morning, right around when the discussion leader was introducing the habits that Paul writes about in Romans 12. It was very distracting! But this beautiful pheasant, apparently making appearances around Peckham, strode up and down outside the crittle doors whilst we talked about crafting a personal and communal ‘rule of life’.

Someone new to the church community sent a couple of messages on the church WhatsApp group later in the day, obviously having done a bit of Googling – and pheasants (or maybe it is just birds in general) do have some symbolic meanings attached to their appearance – anything from good fortune, messengers of transition, spiritual awakening, and connection to nature, offering a moment of ‘wild delight’ if you’re lucky enough to spot one. Their striking appearance has caused some to call them a ‘living flame’ or ‘gift from the heavens’.

God and the Holy Spirit turn up in all sorts of ways through the Scriptures. I don’t recall a sacred pheasant. But why not? It doesn’t all need only be explained by logic, what we can see and understand. Not all knowing needs to come from books. Some knowing can come through being reminded of our connection to the holiness and beauty of creation. Maybe the pheasant is showing us that we are in a moment of transition – maybe something is going on…

Or maybe – it was just be a bird, in the (currently very unloved) church garden on a chilly spring morning in March.