The turkey tail feather has become symbolic to us as a message sent from Stephen. The day following his funeral when the back porch was being cleaned after all his family and friends had been gathered the previous day, a turkey tail feather was found lodged between a heavy pot of flowers and the brick of the house. Stephen loved turkey hunting, and we felt it was his way of letting us know he was experiencing the love of God and the beauty of His creations. Since then, we have found turkey tail feathers at the memorial sculpture at Georgetown College while mulching and cleaning, on random walk and hikes around the farm, and other unlikely places. It always seems to bring a smile to our faces no matter what the circumstances are at the time.
The dragonfly is a reminder that "what is unseen is eternal." Although we cannot fix our eyes on Stephen today, he is experiencing the beauty and glory of Heaven. While plans were being made for "Stephen's Dinner for Life", the symbolism of the dragonfly was revealed to all attendees from the story of the double organ recipient speaker. It is as follows.
Once, in a little pond in the muddy water under the lily pads, there lived a little nymph in a community of dragonfly nymphs. She lived a challenging yet gratifying life in the beautiful pond. Once in a while great sadness would come to the community when one of their fellow nymphs would climb the stem of a lily pad and never be seen again. They knew when this happened their loved one was gone forever. Then one day, the little water nymph felt the irresistible urge to climb up that stem. Yet, she was determined that she would not leave forever. She would come back and tell her fellow nymphs what she had found at the top. When she reached the top and climbed out of the water onto the surface of the lily pad, she was so tired, and the sun felt so warm, that she decided she must take a nap. As she slept, her body changed and when she woke up, she had turned into a beautiful blue-tailed dragonfly with broad wings and a slender body designed for flying. So, fly she did! And as she soared, she saw the beauty of a whole new world and a far superior way of life than what she had only hoped existed down in the pond. Suddenly she remembered her nymph community and how they must be thinking by now she was dead. She wanted to go back to explain to them that she was now more alive than she had ever been before. Her life had been fulfilled rather than ended. But, alas her new body would not go down into the water. She could not get back to tell her family and friends the good news. Then she understood that their time would come soon when they too would know what she now knew. So, she raised her wings and flew off into her joyous new life!
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." --2 Corinthians 4:16-18
