The Wonder of Feathers

Messages from heaven in a world of grief.

A few weeks ago a downy light gray feather was lying at my front door. I instantly thought about the white feather I’d seen nearly three years ago.

I was walking my dog, enveloped in sorrow after the death of my beautiful, vibrant, valiant daughter who had fought so fiercely against cancer — courageously, at times nearly miraculously, winning battle after battle, but ultimately losing the war.

On the edge of the path lay a pure-white downy feather about as long as my pinky finger. I stopped and looked at it for some seconds. Then I walked on, thinking and wondering about the perfect white feather, pondering its meaning.

That night I questioned myself. Why hadn’t I picked it up?

The answer was simple: That it could be picked up never occurred to me.

The next morning, I walked the same path, but the feather was gone. I’ve walked that path many, many times since. I’ve never seen a feather.

Last summer, a tiny gray feather appeared in my back yard when I was out with my granddaughter. I picked it up, and both of us looked at it. I said, “It’s a tiny feather. I wonder what kind of bird it’s from.”

Our conversation stuck to science — the birds live that here, where they nest, when they hatch, how they sound.

A few days later, my granddaughter went outside ahead of me. When I went out, she was holding a tiny downy gray feather and beaming with pleasure. “Look, Nana! We have another message today.”

When I saw the feather at my door, I picked it up and looked at it closely. Its base is gray, and the end is a soft white. I kept it.

A few days later, I was walking my dog. Just as I turned the corner at the end of my street, a tiny feather literally floated right in front of my face. I put it in my pocket.

Then a couple of days after the floating feather, I stopped on my way into the house to pull a couple of weeds. Suddenly, I spotted another tiny feather lying near one of the weeds. I picked it up too.

Now I have three feathers.

I have googled feathers and feathers spiritual meaning and feathers from heaven, followed many links, read many ideas.

Are these feathers messages?

I feel like they are. I’m not sure what I think. My feelings and thoughts are sometimes at odds with each other. In the case of feathers, though, my feelings override logic.

Within my soul, my feelings soar above the realm of reason and ride on the winds of hope.