by Julie Wood
In our churches, we surely do like our fluffy yellow ducklings, don’t we? You know, the emotionally stirring cantatas and praise bands. We love our high tech equipment! With this addition over the recent years, we follow along with ease and have reinforcing images that enhance our experience. We love it! Our mission projects and our small groups are awesome. We do make a difference in the lives of others. We feed people when they are hungry. We clothe people when they need clothes. We bring relief to those affected by disaster. We provide medical support. We bring hope. We nurture our congregation and our community. We provide the shoulder to cry on. We respond to pain of many varieties and it does feel good to help others! We have a positive influence in the world and by doing so, we develop and grow spiritually. This is incredibly beautiful. Yes, with good reason, we do love our fluffy yellow ducklings.
The pretty yellow ducklings swim and waddle about in their purpose while adding beauty whether by a pond or in our churches. They trail behind the mama duck. She leads them and sets the tone as does our leadership and systems of church practice and discipline. She guards them, comforts and controls them with her warm wings as she nestles them in close. It is as it should be, with the fluffy yellow ducklings.
Mama duck found herself to be in a peculiar situation as she looked over her responsibilities; a new batch of eggs. She provided protection and warmth to the eggs. She expected each to flourish. One was, however, very large and different from what she had experienced before. She sat on it and hoped for the best. She sat and she sat. It was a hard shell to be cracked! Once hatched, the little one from the odd egg did not look like the others. It awkwardly accompanied the rest. This one is discomfort, rejection, uncertainty, fear, judgment, hate, prejudice, rejection, superiority, inferiority, rigidity, and apathy. It is not what we like in our churches. It is not what we want to stand for. Over the years, it has however, been present in our churches many, many times over. It is not a pretty, fluffy, yellow duckling! This one doesn’t make us feel good at all. We are confused and conflicted.
The mama duck was puzzled as she did not know how to care for the out of the ordinary little duckling. She questioned, what is my role here? Swimming and quaking from this duckling was not at all what she was accustomed to. When they went out into the barnyard world, the “ugly” duck was pecked, kicked, and chased. No one wanted to see the ugliness or accept it. The ugly duckling was not pretty and he was not representative of the established order of the barnyard world. They were disturbed and in conflict. Not only was mama duck in a peculiar situation but so was the very character of the barnyard world.
As in the story of Hans Christian Anderson’s, “The Ugly Duckling”, there was an amazing transformation. The “ugly duckling” grew into the magnificent beautiful swan! So much beauty and grace can be un-caged when the discomfort is recognized for what it is and embraced. Look at exclusion! People are suffering. There has been a mistake here! Not only do the targets of judgment and rejection suffer but so do those who perpetrate it. The withdrawal to the individual and the system is very expensive.
In the story, the ugly duckling looked up and saw the swans soaring above and he longed to be a part of such beauty. Let’s look up! Christ taught of love and acceptance. Each of us longs to receive love and give love. We need to continue to take responsibility for and embrace our current struggle (LGBTQ inclusion), take stock and determine what image our actions mirror to us. Do we see love, hate or apathy? Now is the time to take actions that bring good to the world! One can almost feel the breeze as the swan travels through our churches as reconciling steps are taken to affirm all. The beautiful swan grows from the ugly duckling. It is possible that ugliness has been necessary to force self-reflection and to showcase the foundational principal of love. One thing that we know for sure is that one child of God is just as precious as the next. What an amazing and beautiful opportunity we have before us. Look at your reflection now!
Giving Ben a Voice,
Julie Wood
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Julie Hilliard Wood spent her childhood as a member of a "parsonage family" in the Western part of North Carolina, as her father was a United Methodist Minister. Julie received her BA in Psychology from The University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a North Carolina Certification in Social Work in 1986. She has worked in the geriatric field as a Social Worker, Social Work Consultant and in leadership positions in non-profits supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She is married to Bill and has three children, Sophie, 10, Lacy, 12 and Ben in heaven.
