Bucolic summer days, filled with butterflies and birds, sunshine and starlight are just as beautiful as the grandest cathedral ever constructed by human hands. The music of nature is as glorious as the most majestic song ever sung in any one of those cathedrals.
It is in the story, A White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewett we are introduced to such a natural cathedral. The story revolves around an eight-year-old girl named Sylvia, her grandmother, a young hunter, the family cow and an elusive and rare bird, a white heron.
The meaning of the story for most readers is about a woman’s world where a male is an outsider trying to get in by force to destroy all that women know and hold dear. Sylvia wants to be in both worlds, the world of women and nature but the young hunter holds a promise of excitement and love.
Is the peaceful existence she knows and loves worth the sacrifice of the white heron, a majestic bird that soars freely? Is money and men the answer or is it being true to what you know deep down in your heart of hearts.
While these are viable interpretations I would like to pursue this story from different perspective, a rather personal one. Each member of the story is symbolic in my analysis. Of late I have come to realize that I am being called to a new direction in my life, possibly to ordained ministry.
As I read this story so many images came to mind. Every major character in this story has an allegorical meaning that we will explore. I know this is quite a departure from traditional interpretations but I do think this is a viable application of the story’s meaning.
Sylvia and her grandmother live in a sparsely populated area and the cow is Sylvia’s only friend. She has no other playmates or companions. The cow is also an important commodity; she is a good provider giving plenty of food and drink to the family. “If the creature had not given good milk and plenty of it, the case would have seemed very different for her owners” (Jewett 431). The cow also seems to want to play with Sylvia because the two of them share a relationship. The cow is Sylvia’s friend who plays hide and seek with her, “So Sylvia had to hunt for her until she found her…” (Jewett 431).
A relationship between friends is very important and that is one of reasons why the cow is symbolic of my best friend, Jesus. (I can’t believe I’m allegorically comparing Jesus to a cow!) Jesus is my best friend and companion, sometimes hiding quietly waiting to be found. We share a deep and intimate relationship.
Just as the cow provides food and drink for the body, Jesus provides food and drink for my soul. Jesus say, “I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst” (John 6:35).
Recently, Sylvia has been “chosen” by her grandmother from a number of other siblings. Sylvia had to leave her other siblings and relocate to a new home. Sylvia however never seems to look back or to miss her former life. In fact the story says, “Sylvia whispered that this was a beautiful place to live in, and she never should wish to go home” (Jewett 432).
I too feel that I am being “chosen” or “called” to a new life, to a life of ordained ministry or priesthood. Sometimes I wonder if I am being “called” and how is it possible for one to know for sure. John Wijngaards has spent over thirty-five years giving spiritual direction for those discerning priestly vocations. He poses eighteen questions that might be indicators of a calling; my answer to each of the questions was in the affirmative.
Wijngaards also distinguishes four signs of a genuine vocation as the Inner call, the Motivation to Serve, Fitness for the Pastoral Ministry and Affirmation of Others (Wijngaards). Yes there is an inner call, a motivation to serve, fitness (theological aptitude) and affirmation of others. If I answer this “call” like Sylvia did I know it will entail leaving some of the familiar behind, maybe even the church denomination that I have loved for many years.
A new home is provided to this little girl by her grandmother. Sylvia’s grandmother has many wonderful qualities. She is kind and compassionate giving a home to Sylvia and shelter to the young hunter. The grandmother is tranquil and easy-going.
When Sylvia is delayed in returning home, the grandmother does not get agitated but remains serene. Also a spirit of empathy is noted in her being. Her home is welcoming, a place of refuge in a wilderness of the world. “It was a surprise to find so clean and comfortable a little dwelling in this New England wilderness…it seemed like a hermitage” (Jewett 435). The grandmother also had children who have all since left or died. She misses them greatly and expresses sorrow at the loss of their presence.
To me the grandmother symbolizes the universal Church, the embodiment of Christ. It is the Church where peace and love are to be found. It is the Church where compassion and kindness should be evident. The Church is to a place of refuge, a hermitage from the wilderness of life. The Church is not a building but a living temple of people.
When death or physical separation occur, the Church should be the comforter, the blanket of love that is wrapped around the one suffering. These ideas of what constitutes Church are found in the writing of St. Paul. “…Live a life worthy of the calling you have received, with perfect humility, meekness and patience, bearing with one another lovingly” (Ephesians 4:2-3).
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patient endurance, kindness, generosity and faith…Let us never be boastful, or challenging or jealous toward one another” (Galatians 5:22-26). Grandmother is all of these things in the story and ideally that is what “Church” should be.
The young hunter is a stranger to the family and also the only male in story. He comes from another world but he is friendly, kind and genuinely interested in others. He just wants a place to stay, some food to eat, and some companionship.
This scenario is similar to Elijah and the widow found in the First Book of Kings. The prophet Elijah is in need of food and shelter. A kind and compassionate woman, a widow, befriends Elijah sharing her almost nonexistent food supply with him and providing Elijah a place to live. For her generosity, God rewards her greatly (1Kings 17:7-24). Elijah and the hunter have much in common, they are sheltered and fed due to the kindness of generous women.
The hunter also knows of the world away from this bucolic setting. He appears to be somewhat educated and wants to share his knowledge of birds with others. Unfortunately the only way to accomplish this is to kill and stuff the unlucky game.
When the hunter first appears, Sylvia is afraid of him and his gun. His gun gives him power but it disturbs the peace of the natural cathedral. As the story goes on, the little girl looses her fear of the young man and develops a longing to be with him. She shows him the woodlands and the forest.
Sylvia is very much a part of nature, her grandmother commented “There ain’t a foot o’ ground she don’t know her way over, and the wild creaturs counts her one o’ themselves” (Jewett 434). Sylvia becomes the guide and she and the hunter spend time together however she would like it better if he did not bring his gun to kill the birds.
Sylvia seems to have developed a “crush” for the young male hunter. I remember back to when I was Sylvia’s age, I too, was infatuated with some young men. They were priests. In the Roman Catholic Tradition, a priest acts in persona of Christ, meaning he is Christ’s representative on earth. I knew they had more knowledge of Jesus and I thought they had a direct line to God; I longed to be with them. Allegorically, in the hunter I see the world of the Roman Catholic priesthood.
Some of these “hunters” hold power in the church by force. The upper hierarchy of the all-male church enforces the rules with fear of intimidation, censure or excommunication. The gun of the hunter could symbolize the Pope who is the absolute authority in the Roman Catholic Church. He can stifle and destroy any form of freethinking or opposition at any time he deems fit. He is the “top gun” so to speak.
To wayward clergy, religious and the laity the use of his power is absolute, quickly dispensed and sometimes permanent. In December 1998, Father Jim Callan of Corpus Christi parish in Rochester, New York was suspended from the priesthood due to pressure from the Vatican. In violation of canon law, Callan had permitted his pastoral associate, a woman, to assist at the altar in full vestment.
The pastoral associate along with six others from the parish staff were fired by order of the bishop of that diocese (Manning 4). As one can see by this description, some of the male clergy can be quite frightening and threatening.
However others can be very engaging and sensitive as is the young hunter. I find myself being drawn to those in positions of ministry especially priests since it is from them that I will find out what this life of ministry is all about. Nonetheless I would be happier if they did not have the “gun” of male dominance and hierarchy with them.
The hunter is looking for an elusive white heron. It is a rare bird, one few people have seen. He would like to add it to his collection to prove to the “world” that it exists. He wants the bird so badly that he “…would give ten dollars to anybody who could show it to me…” (Jewett 434). When and if he finds the white heron he will kill it, stuff it and add it to his collection. The bird will no longer be elusive and free.
The allegorical elusive white heron the hunter is searching for is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit moves where she wills and calls whom she wants. The Holy Spirit should never be restrained or stuffed. The Spirit is ever-moving bringing new life and breath to the Church. However for some five centuries the Roman Catholic Church did try to squelch the Spirit by trying to remain static.
Pope John XXIII’s answer to those who had tried to restrain the Holy Spirit was to call an ecumenical council. When the governing body of the Church asked what benefits a council would bring, John XXIII walked across the room and opened a window saying, “I expect a little fresh air from it” (Nevins 44).
When the artificial constraints the Roman Church had imposed for so long were relaxed, the Spirit began to soar again. She is calling for changes and renewal. The Spirit is generating excitement and growth, advocating new paths or directions, however the established order is frightened. One of the things I believe the Spirit is advocating is for the ordination of women to the priesthood. Nine out of ten Catholic scholars worldwide support the ordination of women to the priesthood (Wijnagaards).
However the present pope, John Paul II, is adamant that this will never happen. In some of his writings he seems to be implying that the prohibition of women being ordained to the priesthood should become an infallible document. Four times since 1994 the Vatican has announced that the ordination of women is not possible; each time raising it on the “hierarchy of truth”. (The higher up a doctrine is on the “hierarchy of truth” the harder it is to change.)
“In 1998, an apostolic letter entitled Ad Tuendam Fidem (To Defend the Faith) inserts three new paragraphs into the Code of Canon Law…This apostolic letter raised certain ‘definitively held’ teachings to the level of infallibility and attached a sliding scale of penalties for denial of these teachings, ranging from admonition to excommunication” (Manning 97).
The hunters (the male hierarchy of the Roman Church) are being called upon to find this elusive bird of hope and bring it down. The hunters do not want to completely destroy the bird (those members of the church pushing for the ordination of women), only to make it incapable of future growth.
If the Spirit can be stuffed she will still exist but in a static not dynamic way. If the hunter in the story can find the white heron, he will not obliterate it from existence, it will still be seen, only it will not be a living creature.
Sylvia is almost certain that the white heron lives in tall pine tree. She has climbed this tree before but never to the very top. Sylvia wants to see this elusive heron; to be sure it really exists. In the early morning hours before the sun begins to shine, she climbs the ancient pine enduring the pain that the pine branches inflict on her bare arms and legs.
As she reaches the pinnacle of the tree she see the world beyond the wilderness, the heron and its nest. She finally knows the heron secret and understands and begins her perilous journey down from the lofty summit to home.
Sylvia and the pine tree represent women who feel they are being called to priesthood. Their path is very obscure. The trees of the forest are many and dense. Sometimes these women may doubt the existence of the Spirit or the call. Allegorically the trees are the obstacles in the way of ordination. The only way to follow the Spirit is rise above the known obstacles.
This journey to discern the way of the Holy Spirit will not be easy, pain and heartache are guaranteed. Some women will find they will have to leave the church they love (leave home) to be able to follow the Spirit’s call.
For example, Maureen Dallison Kemeza who was born and raised a Roman Catholic but is now an ordained Episcopal priest. Other women like Emily Malcoun will minister as best as is possible but with a great heaviness in their hearts since they cannot fulfill their destiny. (Schlumpf 12-17).
However it is better to climb the “tree” to make sure the elusive bird really does exist. Not only does the heron exist but there is a world beyond the wilderness, this world is the future that is yet to come.
Sylvia knows where the heron is but will not tell the hunter. She longs to be part of his world and to be with him. However she knows the price is too great. The white heron is safe; she will not disclose its sanctuary. She will protect the heron even if she is lonely.
Sylvia’s gifts and graces are many, she is only a child in chronological time but she knows the secret of the ages. I too, feel very much like young Sylvia; I want to be with the hunter (those ordained into ministry). I feel that I have been blessed with many gifts. I have spent my life exploring the meadows and fields of the natural cathedral of life. It might be my destiny to share my spiritual gifts with others through the vocation of priesthood.
Knowing that being ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic Tradition is impossible at this time only adds to the heartache. I want to be like Sylvia and protect the white heron (the Holy Spirit) from being stuffed and mounted. My prayer is to be true to my calling and myself. I must work to keep the Spirit free to soar as Sylvia did with the white heron. Only time will tell if I will be successful in keeping the Holy Spirit free to move in my life.
This allegorical interpretation A White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewett is the vocational calling to ordained ministry of Reverend Colleen.
REFERENCES
Jewett, Sarah Orne. A White Heron. The Norton Anthology American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: Norton, 1998. 431-438.
Manning, Joanna. Is the Pope Catholic? New York: Crossroad. 1999.
Nevin, Albert J. The Story of Pope John XXIII. New York: Wonder Book. 1966.
Schlumf, Heidi. Call Waiting: The Stories of Five Women Who Want to be Priests. U.S. Catholic, February 2001: 12-17.
Senior, Donald, ed. The Catholic Study Bible New American Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.
Wijngaards, John. Called. Online. 2 Feb. 2002. Available: www.womenpriests.org.
Image: "A Great Egret in flight at Palo Alto Baylands" photographed byA Great Egret in 2010