A quiet sign of hope emerged during May in the midst of the Covid-19 turmoil: the white stork began to breed in the wild in the UK once more.
In West Sussex, where they lived hundreds of years ago, wild adult birds have nested and chicks hatched for the first time in Britain since a pair of white storks nested on the roof of St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh in 1416.1,2
The white stork became extinct in Britain through persecution – both habitat loss and hunting – making it an apt symbol of Christianity. By tradition, the stork is said to represent holiness and vigilance and is symbolic of the Annunciation to Mary.3
Faithfulness
The Prophet Jeremiah noticed the stork’s faithful habits – “Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons” – contrasting this with God’s people, who “do not know the requirements of the Lord” and who are more like charging horses each going their own way (Jer 8:6-7). Storks are known for their migratory punctuality. At the appointed time, they return precisely to their old haunts and re-occupy their old nests. Today, half a million migrating birds use Israel as a stopping point, including many storks.4
Reflecting this faithful character, the Hebrew word for stork is hasidah, meaning kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, mercy.5 The root word is hesed, which is the defining characteristic of the Lord in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament, indicative of his mercy and covenantal faithfulness.
During migration, younger storks are said to carry the older ones on their wings when they become tired and, when nesting, the younger birds bring food to the older ones, just as their parents had previously brought food to them.6 Parent storks are also known to have perished trying to rescue their young from flames.7 Storks have been known to be loyal and faithful to their life partner despite long separation during the winter months.8 They are also said to be harbingers of spring and enemies of snakes, which may explain the affection in which they are held by many. There are other folkloric stories and attributions to storks, including their being a symbol of rebirth.9
Reflecting its faithful character, the Hebrew word for stork is hasidah, meaning kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, mercy.
Bearing Wickedness Away
There are a few stork references in the Bible, but perhaps the most unexpected is Zechariah 5:9, which alludes to the beauty and power of the stork's wings:
Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.
The stork-winged women are flying away with a measuring basket containing another woman described as “wickedness”, who represents the iniquity of God’s people (Zech 5:6). Storks are known for their strong wings because they migrate thousands of miles. They are unclean for God’s people (Lev 11:19; Deut 14:18), so are fit for this heavy, distasteful task. As mentioned before, their Hebrew name suggests they are faithful, entrusted servants. The heavy, lead-lidded basket’s destination was Babylonia, a place epitomising the world’s idolatry and wickedness (Zech 5:10-11). The vision promises that wickedness would be banished one day from Israel by the Messiah and, ultimately, from the entire earth.
A Coming Rebirth?
Why would storks suddenly reappear around Britain this particular spring? Conservationists have worked for several years towards this, but this is the first time storks have settled and bred here for 600 years.10
Are they a whispered sign of hope? A gentle message to say that our centuries-old Christian heritage, which has dwindled due to intellectual and social persecution and a changed, less favourable ‘habitat’, will not become extinct in this nation, but may experience rebirth?
Despite the obvious symbols of our faith, the churches, being closed, is there a quiet message of hope in this ancient symbol of our faith? The last place white storks nested in Britain was, apparently, a cathedral. Today, they have returned to the wild. Similarly, at this time, God’s people are no longer to be found in cathedrals and churches but interacting (albeit at a distance or online) with neighbours that perhaps before we did not know very well.
Despite the obvious symbols of our faith, the churches, being closed, is there a quiet message of hope in this ancient symbol of our faith?
Even before lockdown, many cathedrals and churches had become formal heritage sites with historical and religious appeal, but not live centres of apostolic faith. Many gospel-centred churches had become bogged down in programmes and meetings, mostly expecting people to come into church rather than going out to them. Now we have been forced out of our buildings and online, where people are ‘visiting’ our churches in unexpected numbers.
Like God’s people in Jeremiah’s time, we have neglected the requirements of the Lord rather than imitating the faithful character of the stork (Jer 8:7). We have forgotten first principles. Yet, the Lord is graciously working among the Body of believers to cleanse and purify and to remind us of the urgency of the gospel message.
One day, all wickedness will be banished from the earth, as Zechariah foretells. In the meantime, God has not abandoned his faithful ones, those who know him and obey the Great Commission in this appointed season: “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry” (Ps 34:15).
References
1 See coverage from The Guardian (16 May 2020), the BBC (15 May 2020) and The Conversation.
2 John Knox was minister at St Giles Cathedral from 1559. Find out more here.
3 See Ferguson, G, 1954. Signs and Symbols in Christian Art (OUP) and Smith's Bible Dictionary, also this article.
4 For more information, read this article from Haaretz.
5 According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, “The Talmud considers ‘dayyah lebanah’ to be the proper name of the stork, and "ḥasidah" to be an epithet applied to it because it lovingly shares its food with its fellows (Ḥul. 63a).”
6 According to Biblestudytools.com.
7 Rand, WW, 2013. The Bible Dictionary. Delmarva Publications.
8 According to the Jerusalem Prayer Team.
9 See more at the Cameron Bespolka Trust and the White Stork Project.
10 According to the White Stork Project.