February 21, 2003

The Pelican and The Lion of Judah

Strange and wonderful spiritual events occur almost daily at the Wilderness Cathedral. They become so commonplace, that one soon begins to become jaded, and marvels become mundane.

Other examples of aesthetic overload that I have witnessed include watching the terribly bored guards in the Louvre and other great museums, surrounded by the most marvelous works of art on the planet; the citizens of some of the most beautiful villages on earth whose lives are so hectic that they no longer notice the snow capped mountains and brilliant sunsets; and the owners and employees of topless bars, who seldom even look up from their work when another beautiful woman sheds her clothes.

Yet, even now, strange events occur, that cause me to pause from my work, and marvel at the wonders of Creation and to contemplate signs from the Creator.

The evening after I had confronted the Mayor and City Council about the destruction of some of God's most beautiful trees on the original Homestead of General Sam Houston, I went to my father's pyramid to work. After the sun had set and it was too dark to continue my chores, I went to the "Rock of Anointment" to ask God to send me a sign that I had done the right thing by confronting the evil that lurks in Huntsville's City Government.

Staring into the shadows of the twilight cast upon the undulating waters, I made out a silhouette just off shore. It was a lonely Pelican, bobbing on the tops of the waves. The Pelican symbolizes Christ and thus I took this as a good sign. I immediately looked up into the gray clouds and there was a huge lion's head with its mouth open, as if roaring. I immediately thought of the Lion of Judah, another representation of Christ, and how he rebuked the money changers, just as I had rebuked the scoundrels at City Hall.

Further up the coast, at the mouth of a small inlet, 75 or more Pelicans were feeding in a group. After they had circled a school of fish and eaten their fill, they dispersed to fish alone or in small groups. To me this symbolized the flock going out to spread the faith and the message of The Universal Ethician Church.

The next evening there was a repeat performance. Just as I was about to leave the pyramid, the silhouettes of flock after flock of pelicans swooshed overhead, landing in front of the same cove as the evening before. With my binoculars I could see a figure in a red jacket and red cap fishing from a rocky point with the pelicans fishing just off shore from where he stood. Every once in awhile a large puff of smoke would come from his head. (Does St. Nicolas smoke?) I saw no boat and there was no sign of a vehicle nearby. I went to Pelican Point to get the boat to investigate and there was a flock of pelicans feeding there as well. When I arrived at the rocky point only the Pelicans remained. The man in the red shirt and red cap had disappeared without a trace.

The third day, I went out a little earlier, and as I was picking up sticks an albino armadillo approached. For some reason, I felt like Alice in Wonderland. I had never seen a white armadillo before and I asked him to stop and let me approach. He would not listen and scampered off. A storm had blown in and the waves were crashing. The horse-head rock below the cliff was spitting as never before. Again I went to the Rock of Anointment and water was gushing through the eye of the Hippo, a rock in the form of a hippopotamus head. Then, just as before, the pelicans came to feed at the same little cove.

The marvels and signs of these three days had cleansed me of ennui and released me from my jaded state of being.

This morning as I was writing this Cathedral Tale a huge flock of cormorants passed in front of my window, led by a single pelican. If only the flock of Jesus were as committed to following their Master as the cormorants were in following the Pelican to their feeding grounds!!!




From the Holy Trinity Wilderness Cathedral
ETHICIUS I


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