Wrong Birds

Last night at midnight we were awakened by shouting men, a revving motorcycle, clapping, barking. We tried to ignore the noise but it escalated, and we began to wonder if thugs were bothering the Mukiddis. We went out to the porch and saw flashlights shining through our hedge, and heard a large rock rustle through the trees and thud into the grass. Star was going wild on her leash. Scott yelled at the group of men to go home to bed. They answered “Doctor, we are chasing a wrong bird. We don't like it.” Luke has lately noticed a Verreaux Eagle Owl sometimes roosting in our tree. It seems this bird is associated with evil spirits, and all our neighbors had gathered to scare it off, a collective action of noise and desperation. Evil abounds, but people have been deceived into fighting useless battles.

Tonight we will chase evil in a different way, though some clapping and gathering will be involved. We have planned an extended prayer time for our team, beginning with lament, naming and mourning the evils and then turning to God in worship, praying for the Kingdom to come. We will use Psalm 22, the words Jesus echoed on the cross. The cry that begins in despair ends in faith, and we hope to make that journey tonight, honest protest, engagement with God’s presence, and hope for the future. The psalm ends like this:

The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek him shall praise the LORD.
May your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the earth shall remember
And turn to the LORD;
And all the families of the nations
Shall worship before him.

Posterity will serve him;
Future generations will be told about the Lord,
And proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
Saying that he has done it.