March 15, 2024

Well, let's just get to it: Jackie and Shadow's eggs are now past the point of viability. I won't say they won't hatch, because I do believe in miracles, but I have come to accept that the likelihood of them hatching without a miracle is very small. Very, very small.

It is probably too extreme to say I'm heartbroken, but my heart is at least bruised. Watching Jackie and Shadow tend their nest felt almost sacred to me, and I had been deeply anticipating the joy of watching new little eaglets hatch and grow. In the middle of a world that sees our share of troubling news, these eggs represented hope. It's hard to watch this particular hope fade. I am finding beauty, though, in the way Jackie and Shadow's story has united so many diverse people. It's beautiful to recognize that no matter their backgrounds, beliefs, or life circumstances, so many people out there are longing for the same simple hope I am.

When it became clear that these eggs will not hatch, Friends of Big Bear Valley, the organization hosting Jackie and Shadow's livestream, put out this statement: “Whether you are a new or long time viewer of Jackie and Shadow, we can all clearly see the genuine love and care this pair has for one another. Perhaps we can all take a page out of their love story and use it to draw us all together.” 

Perhaps we can. It isn't lost on me that we'll soon enter Holy Week. At the heart of our Great Story is the promise that "what the caterpillar calls the end, the Master calls a butterfly". It's the promise that life is deeply good, even when it doesn't feel that way. At the heart of our story is a Love that unites us all, one that not even death can destroy.

My prayer for you this week is for hope to live in your heart, whatever you may be going through. My prayer for you is for you to see Love, freely offered, all around you. Even among the broken parts of life it's there, drawing you into community with every bit of Creation.