Some years ago I talked my husband into the idea of having chickens; I was enamored with the esthetic of backyard hens and I also happened to be working on a big project with a large company that involved integrating teams following an acquisition. In planning meetings people kept talking about swim lanes and pecking orders and while I knew something about the former I only understood the latter in theory. So I thought why not ‘kill two birds with one stone,’ and be able to both enjoy the fun of chickens while using them as an observation point for how pecking orders really work when there are beaks involved, not just egos.

We have had chickens for nearly a decade now and over the years we have lost a lot of birds and brought new birds in; we never have a flock that is all the same age so we are in the constant movement of youth and vigor to retirement and wisdom. I have seldom regretted the chickens. And I have learned an enormous amount from them. Yes, much about pecking order and how that works, but also about personality and friendship and how to make space for yourself; lately I feel like they are teaching me a lot about my faith and about God. I suppose if you are inclined to be thinking about theology as I am you can find lessons everywhere, but there is also a reason that Jesus used metaphors of gardens and farms and shepherds and growing things so much. God is revealed to us in the doings of the world, not just in the words of books, and the rumination of our minds.

Up until last summer I would go up to the coop every morning and let the girls out into their yard; a large space fenced and netted off from the rest of the year with herbs and shrubs and trees, lots of dirt, lots if things to do if you are a chicken. Then the coyote came into the yard and took several birds. It was a bad day for us and for chickens. It was a feast day for the coyote pups that were being fed. We have always had coyotes but they have never come over the fence before so this was something of a system shock. The back yard was not safe. The cats became indoor cats (the impact of which is still being addressed), the chickens stayed in the coop (which is large and full of good things but not the same as the yard).

We adjusted to the new routine; netting was taken down, free time was limited to supervised visits. The winter was particularly bad. This summer the coyotes moved across the canyon with the pups so it is not quite as stressful but we stay in nonetheless. When I’m home I’ll let the girls out for an hour or two of free time, mid-day when I think the coyotes are napping and as long as I didn’t hear them howling from too close the night before. Eight of the nine are content in the coop yard, they scratch and dig and sun bathe, nibble grass through the fence and try to get to anything they can in the garden. But one chicken, Mrs. Sharon, hops the fence. Everyday.

So everyday I let them out and I go back to the house to work on whatever I’m about that day, and an hour or so later I go up to the coop to put them back. And everyday I find Mrs. Sharon walking around in areas she is not supposed to be. She comes when I call to her and waits for me to pick her up, sometimes she just follows me to the gate and sometimes she wants to be put back over the fence (the fence she hopped over and could go back on her own), and I do this everyday. I could put the netting back up to keep her in but she doesn’t do too much harm and we have a little routine. She wanders, I collect. It works.

Not long ago it occurred to me that this is basically what I do with God over and over too. Except in that relationship I am the chicken. ‘Prone to wander’ we sing in a hymn and it is true. No matter how good I have it I wonder about what is over that fence and I hop, I wander, I take matters into my own hands. And every day, as often as I do, if I am willing, God is there to pick me up and put me back in the space where I am safer. This is part of why I don’t put the netting back up: we are made to do this in our lives, we are free, we are in fact permitted to explore and to choose and praise God, when we find ourselves disoriented and too far from where we ought to be there is someone there to help us back.