Me & The Wild Goose

Melissa Logsdon – September 2, 2025 3 Comments

It was a peaceful early spring morning. My husband and I were fishing at a pond with the morning haze all around. So peaceful was this moment that I decided to just sit down on a berm and “watch” my pole. The sights and sounds of the early morning were soul-nourishing… 

Then, all of a sudden, the peaceful morning was interrupted by my blood curdling scream, as a wild goose charged right at me! See, just on the other side of the berm sat a goose nest being fiercely protected! I jumped up from my spot–and ran; and the goose chased after me–flapping wings and loudly squawking! My screams echoed off the surrounding apartment buildings, stirring sleepy-eyed residents out to their balconies to investigate the commotion. Meanwhile, my husband just laughed at the whole situation and calmly told me to just stop running and turn around and face it.

We, or rather my husband, still laughs when we re-tell this story. Me, well, I’m still beyond terrified of most birds getting anywhere close to me (there are WAY TOO MANY bird stories I have to support this fear!) 

So, now you know, when I think of a wild goose its this memory I have as an image in my mind.

Recently I learned that the Celtic monks portrayed the Holy Spirit as both a dove AND a wild goose! (In my tradition, I have only heard of the image of the dove, which always seems so peaceful: the sounds of the dove coos and the images of the dove with an olive branch in its beak.)

When I first heard this, I was almost offended by the image of the Holy Spirit as a wild goose. Because, well…geesh…geese are loud and fierce and unsettling–and quite annoying at times! 

In Champaign-Urbana, it’s a common spring time occurrence to experience hissing geese fiercely protecting their nests in the middle of parking lots. Not to mention that geese take on an I-will-do-what-I-will-do attitude as they take their own sweet time waddling across busy roads, always at the most inconvenient of times!

And that is the image we need in mind as we contemplate the Holy Spirit as the Wild Goose. Recently, I read this question in contemplation of this concept:

“…where in our contemporary devotions are there glimpses that God…can be expected to surprise, contradict, upset or rile us in order that the kingdom may come?”-John L. Bell & Graham A. Maule

When I read this question, my next thought was also a question: 

Do I even want to ask the Holy Spirit to show up in my life, in our fellowship, as a Wild Goose? Do I really want God to come in and upset what is? Especially at the most inconvenient of times? Can I pray this prayer: 

“that the Wild Goose will come to me” -Iona, ‘Here I stand’

It’s true that often the Holy Spirit undoes what I thought was so done up, not to mention that at times the Holy Spirit has come in and changed my schedule, my plans, beyond recognition, and yet…somehow made something better take place in that space.

So, can I keep in mind, it is for the kingdom of God to come into my life, our fellowship, our world that I pray this prayer? 

Although it may be up-setting, I want to be brave enough to not just seek the comfortable part of the Holy Spirit, but also, the uncomfortable. –Melissa Logsdon, NCF Associate Pastor