Where Does the Wild Goose Fly To? Seeking a New Theology of Spirit for Feminist Theology

Extract

Every day in the farm where I live the shrill scream of the wild geese flying overhead is heard. The cry is so strident as to make us stop our activities and ask, ‘To where does the wild goose fly?’ The well-known line from John’s Gospel comes to mind: ‘The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes...’ (3.8) For the wild goose is an ancient Celtic symbol of the Holy Spirit—made popular in contemporary spirituality by the Iona Community in Scotland. The cry of the wild goose—and the sheer power of its wings—evokes a sense of the unknown, that wild transcendence and yearning for freedom which lifts us from our daily frustrations. And that is why faith in the Spirit seems to offer hope and renewed possibilities to a ‘tired’ tradition: it is certainly why Feminist Theology attempts to develop a Theology of Spirit as a means of redeeming the oppressive structures of patriarchal theology and Church.