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The uneven number

Mildred Lindquist

It’s that time of year again. The geese are back. They serenade us every morning as they stop near our window to have their breakfast. They find good pickings on land which at one time was pasture for cattle. It is interesting to me that there were seven geese last year and seven again this spring. Likely the same seven.


A characteristic of geese is that they have a closely knit family life. The goslings are faithfully guarded by both parents. They migrate as a family unit to and from their winter home. The family stays together until the beginning of the next breeding season when the young start nests of their own. While in flight, the geese congregate in flocks and fly in a V-shaped formation to cut down on air resistance. They take turns at being the lead goose.

The honking of Canada geese is a common sound in spring and fall. Whenever I see an odd number of geese flying overhead I get a lonely feeling. It may mean that one of them has lost its mate. Geese pair for life. A goose which has lost its mate spends the rest of its life as a single, and that can be a long time as some geese reach the age of 40 years. It is interesting to see that the single one is not rejected or ignored, but remains part of the group.

Possibly we can take a lesson from the geese. What would it do for our society and churches if families were as close-knit and supportive of one another? Do those who have lost their mates still feel a part of the group?

Some time ago, we attended a fellowship banquet in a restaurant with adults from our church. When we arrived, I was appalled to notice that all the single ladies were at a long table aside from the others. I asked them why they were all at that table. The answer was that they had been told to sit there.

To my dismay, I noticed one of my friends who had recently lost her husband sitting at that table. I thought, “How could this be?” This was her first time without her husband! A few weeks earlier, she would have been with the couples. There were two vacant places next to the new widow, so my husband and I joined the ladies. We had often made it a point to dine with our single lady friends, so my husband was quite comfortable. He agrees with me that it would be lonely to fly through life without being part of the group.

Is it not expected of us to “look after orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27)?

Mildred Lindquist is a member of Central Heights MB Church in Abbotsford, B.C.

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Last modified July 10, 2001.

© 2001 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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