I Heard a Cardinal Call My Name by Peter A. Black

Courtesy of Shutterstock

Earlier this week I heard a cardinal call my name – at least, I thought it was a cardinal. I looked all around and peered up into the trees, but I couldn’t spot it. And yet, the sweetly haunting, yet distinct Pe-ter, pe-ter, pe-ter sounded out.  

A copy of Margaret Craven’s 1960s novel I Heard the Owl Call My Name sat on my library shelves for decades. A while back I finally began to read it. I thought of it the moment I heard that Pe-ter, pe-ter, pe-ter.

It’s a story of a young Anglican vicar, Mark Brian, whose bishop sent him to serve a small First Nations community in BC, called Kingcome. The bishop knew that Mark was terminally ill, but that fact wasn’t disclosed to the young fellow. He fitted in well with the ‘Kwakiutl’ people. They accepted him as one of theirs, and he accepted them as family and the village as his home.

Courtesy of piaxabay.com

The Kwakiutl people believed that when a person heard the owl call their name, they would soon die. One day Mark Brian heard the owl call his name. Not long afterwards he was in his boat near to land when a landslide completely engulfed his small craft and he was killed.

Now, let’s connect with a touching account in the Bible. Jesus had done wonders for Mary Magdalene in healing her ruined, broken life. Very early on that historic morning of His resurrection from the dead, she stood weeping in the garden near the tomb where He had been buried. Not knowing at that point that Jesus had risen, she was evidently bewildered by the empty tomb, and that increased the anguish of her grief-stricken heart.

We read: “. . . she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it

Credit: free-christian-

wallpapers.blogspot.com

was Jesus. . . . [He] said ‘why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’ Thinking he was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means Teacher).”*

She instantly recognized His voice in the calling of her name. It jolted her out of grief and no doubt filled her with inexpressible joy. He then instructed her to go and share the good news with His “brothers.” So she hurried off to tell the disciples. Three years or so before this He’d personally called each of His disciples to follow Him.

Jesus still calls, but seldom with an audible voice; calls in language of the heart. It’s a call to life. I was just a grade-school kid when I ‘heard’ and responded to that call to trust in Him. I reaffirmed it in my teens and also many times since.

I’m glad Jesus called my name. Glad too, that the song of a little bird I couldn’t even see reminded me of these things and warmed my heart with its song.
~~~
*Abbrev. from John 20:11-16  NIV.
~~+~~
Peter is a retired pastor – well, sort of retired – as he is currently engaged as an associate volunteer pastor. He lives in Southwestern Ontario with his wife, May, and writes a weekly inspirational newspaper column and occasional magazine articles. Peter is author of two books: "Parables from the Pond" (Word Alive Press) and "Raise Your Gaze . . . Mindful Musings of a Grateful Heart" (Angel Hope Publishing). He and May are also engaged in leading nursing home / residential chapel services, pulpit supply and music. ~+~