We got home from vacation to discover the disturbing news that Elvis, our
rooster, was savagely taken by a coyote.
All that remained of him was a few drops of blood and a pile of his
beautiful tail feathers. We were all in
denial. We walked our property calling
for him. We tried luring him with food
scraps. We waited to see if he would
make his way into the coop for the night.
He never did.
That night, as we
toasted to my husband’s 40th Birthday with sparkling cider.
Thing 3 calls out, “And to Elvis, the bravest rooster alive...or dead. I guess, " and we
had a moment of silence for the sacrifice he made for his hens.
All of us knew what kind of rooster he was. He was big and regal. He had gorgeous, clean white feathers with a
bit of silver around his neck and in his tail.
He reminded us of “The King of Rock' n Roll” in his famous white and silver jumpsuit, hence
his name. He was good with the ladies,
too. He was faithful at his job. Twice, we saw him scare off a hawk that had
swooped down to snatch one of the girls.
Another time, I heard him make a sound much like a growl and then saw
every single lady disappear while Elvis strutted around flapping his wings and
crowing as he kept his eye on the sky.
Not only was he good with the ladies, he also never attacked me or my boys,
which is why our last rooster came to meet Jesus.
We could all very easily picture what happened the day Elvis
died. All was quiet on our property, as
our rambunctious boys were all gone. The
hens were scattered about the place doing their thing, scratching, taking a
dust bath, sitting on eggs, happily being free-ranging hens. Elvis was overseeing it all with a watchful
eye. Maybe he had found a juicy fig that had fallen off the tree next to the
forest line, and he called his ladies over to enjoy it.
Then something moved in the trees, and Elvis
snapped to attention. His warning call
rang out, and all the girls scattered as the lurking coyote made its move. Elvis ran to meet it. Wings spread wide, neck stretched out, spurs
ready for attack.
He managed to distract
the coyote just long enough for the ladies to get to safety. Then, in silent horror, they watched
the chase that followed. Elvis, a
Coronation Sussex, was a very large and heavy bird weighing well over 15 pounds. He lumbered when he ran without much agility. The coyote was easily able to overtake him as if Elvis knew what his fate had always been. It dragged him deep into the trees, where, eventually, Elvis breathed his last breath.
Poor Elvis, he was so
brave.
The next day it just so happened that I wanted to talk to my
boys about Communion. Coming from a
Quaker background, my boys’ experience of Communion was mostly special occasions. Christmas and Easter were typically
where we would break the bread, drink the wine, and read about the last supper
and Christ’s call to “do this in remembrance of me”. Truthfully, I always
longed for a few more opportunities to physically share in Communion together
as a body of Christ. Not surprisingly,
Communion in church every Sunday is a bit of an exciting anomaly for my boys,
and although I think they know (save Thing 3) what it symbolizes, I felt like a
recap was in order.
We talked about what the “Lord’s Supper” was, how Christ asked his followers to break the bread and drink the wine to
remember him and what he has done for us.
I asked the boys if they understood what it was Christ did. Thing 1 answered, “Well, mom, it’s kind of
like what Elvis did for the ladies, he died so that the hens didn’t have to.”
Then, Gracen pipes in, “That makes me sad for
Elvis. I hope we never forget him. I love Elvis.”
Hmmm…I could not have said it better. Sometimes, as
a parent, I talk too much. This time, I decided to
let the rooster, who was appropriately named after "The King,” teach my kids about “The One
True King”.
“But Jesus called the children to him and said, ‘Let the
little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God
belongs to such as these. Truly I tell
you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will
never enter it.’”
~Luke 18:16-17How have your kids surprised you with their insight and understanding?
Kristen
