PARABLE OF THE PIGEONS

In July of 2006 I was contracted to plaster the foundation of a home that was being prepared for the Parade of Homes.  My son and I arrived early on Tuesday the 18th.  We prepped the foundation as we always did by chipping away all the ridges and bumps and removed any dirt that would impair bonding.  We had just finished this process when a crew arrived to finish the soffit and fascia above the basement walkout.  Because we had been prepping that walkout it was impossible not to notice that several pigeons had been roosting in the eaves above.  We mentioned this to the guys who were there to enclose the eaves but they assured us that all the pigeons were out and proceeded to close the only access to the eaves.  On Friday the 21st we were working on the house next to the one where the pigeons had been.  While working, my son heard a pigeon trapped inside the soffit and then he heard a second one.  He had me come listen.  It was really hot that week and the pigeons were whimpering in such a pathetic way that even I had compassion on them.  We called the project supervisor to inform him that not all of the pigeons were out of the eaves.  He said he would see if he could get somebody to come free them.  They had been in those hot, enclosed eaves since Tuesday.  I marveled that they were still alive.  As the day went on, the worse I felt for the birds.  Their desperate whimpers plagued me.  I knew it must be excruciatingly hot and terrifying for them.  I debated about doing something myself.  I knew the house would be judged the following week and I didn’t want to jeopardize that.  It wasn’t my house.  I had informed the project manager of the situation so technically my responsibility had ended.  But as the day progressed, I knew nobody was going to come save the pigeons.  The 24th of July would be celebrated the following Monday and the birds would never last that long.  I knew that if something wasn’t done that day, those birds would die.  My step son installed soffit and fascia so I called him and asked him how to open a hole for the pigeons and repair it afterward.  We searched through some of the homes that were under construction nearby and found an old, rickety wooden ladder that was just barely long enough to reach the roof.  My son steadied it while I climbed up to the eaves.  I created a hole big enough for them to escape not far from where we could hear them.  We hoped they would be drawn to the light of the opening.  Once completed, we removed the ladder and went on working next door.  A short while later we saw two of the pigeons standing right by the hole.  They looked uncertain about what to do, which surprised me.  I thought they would fly out immediately.  The sprinklers were watering the grass in the backyard.  After a little more hesitation one of the pigeons flew directly to the lawn.  It began drinking from the wet grass.  Then it did an incredible thing.  It walked over to one of the pop-up sprinklers, opened its beak and just let the water shoot into its mouth.  It stood that way for a few moments until the Sprinklers quit.  It must have stayed on the grass drinking for half an hour.  I had to move locations but my son said the other pigeon eventually came out also and they flew away together.  We hurriedly put the ladder back up and replaced the soffit and fascia so they couldn’t get back in.  A while later, he came to tell me he was sure there was at least one more pigeon in the eaves.  I followed him and listened intently.  To my dismay, I agreed.  We put the ladder back up and I repeated the process of making a way of escape.  We backed away to watch but the pigeon remained where it was.  It would not come out regardless of what we did to entice it.  That was hard for me to understand.  At the very end of our day, with sadness in our hearts, I ascended the ladder one last time to close up the hole which I knew was a death sentence for that last pigeon.  While I had been watching that first pigeon drinking the water from the lawn and then open its beak to take in more of the water that was saving its life, I had come into my mind the very clear impression that what I was observing was symbolic of what would occur among men when they realized how trapped they were and in desperate need of the living water only Jesus Christ could provide.  They would literally be dying of spiritual thirst, trapped in a prison of their own making.  Just as the pigeons were unaware of their dire circumstance, created by the closing of their eave access, most of mankind is completely unaware that they are in a much deadlier trap than were the pigeons.  And like the pigeons, they won’t realize the magnitude or utter desperation of their situation until it’s too late to act for themselves.  The pigeons had no way of knowing they were in trouble until their normal exit was closed, the effect of the heat intensified, and the duration of their entrapment increased.  They could not access the life giving water they so desperately needed.  The pigeons were utterly dependent upon someone else to save them, someone who could reach them.  This same conclusion will come to all mankind at some point.  When a way of escape and access to living water was made available, they would gratefully embrace it, letting it rush in, wash over and through them, inundating them in the refreshing, lifesaving blood of the Redeemer.  His atoning sacrifice is offered willingly to all, part of which is unconditional, part of which is conditioned upon our choice.  Two of the pigeons chose the opportunity freely provided to them.  One did not.  The pigeons were drawn to the light created by the way of escape.  “I am the way, the truth, and the life”, the Savior said.  It will be the light of Christ that illuminates the way of escape for all of God’s children.  It will be the living water of His atoning sacrifice that saves them, if they choose to accept it.