I’ll be honest, when I recount my experiences with wild geese, I mostly recall the time an entire flock of Canada Geese blocked the road as I walked back to my home in Medical Lake, Washington. Hissing and eyeing me up with beady eyes, just like they were waiting to take a bite out of my leg if I had the audacity to pass their patrol. I also consider the evidence they leave when taking residence on a grassy patch of green, sheer amounts of poop everywhere. Even the idiom “wild goose chase” has negative connotations of wasted time and foolishness.
It was late in the fall of 2024 when I learned that the early Celtic Christians often referred to the Holy Spirit as a Wild Goose (Thank you, Hannah Brencher and The Unplugged Hours). I was instantly infatuated with this imagery - for me, so much more fitting and imaginative than picturing the Holy Spirit as a dove.
An article I found states the concept of the Holy Spirit as wild goose well, “The wild goose reveals a spirit which is passionate, noisy, and courageous. This symbol reminds us that God’s spirit cannot be tamed or contained” (Sr. Terry Rickard, RENEW)
Upon a little more Googling, I found a Mark Batterson book that I’ve been listening to (and then proceeded to order a paper copy) regarding this whole concept - Wild Goose Chase: Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God.
In 2024, I saw God answer crazy prayers this year as I took time to intercede - healing hearts and bodies, revealing wisdom and freedom. My prayer journal attests to overflowing answered prayers. I’ve seen faith walked out in both my life and the lives of those around me through some hard situations. I’ve been a part of life-giving conversations as I continue to prioritize community, including some powerful conversations on boundaries as I led a small group around our campfire ring. As a birth doula, I bore witness to 9 lives entering this world through incredible labor and strength (the most I’ve done in a year so far). I’ve gotten creative solutions for parenting my kids as I sought the Lord for fresh ideas that would speak to their individual hearts. Our marriage got stronger as we put into practice communication techniques we had learned in therapy, and fought less than ever before when figuring out how to run multiple businesses, manage rental properties and investments, and parenthood and life.
In his book, Batterson writes —
“[T]he reason many of us get stuck in the six cages—the cage of responsibility, the cage of routine, the cage of assumptions, the cage of guilt, the cage of failure, and the cage of fear—is for one simple reason: We want God to do something new while we keep doing the same old thing.”
Right before the passage in Ezekiel where the dry bones are resurrected, there is a passage about God taking Israel out of old places, cleansing them from evil, and then giving them the Holy Spirit as a testament to the nations.
“I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.” - Ezekiel 36:26-28
That's how Wild Goose Chase became my phrase for 2025. I saw the Holy Spirit protect, heal, and guide so much in 2024 that now I’m getting selfish and asking for EVEN MORE in 2025. I don’t want to get hung up on the old ways of doing things. I want fresh ideas and discernment as I love my husband, kids, friends, and the people in my life. I want discipline to take time to journal and record and write what I’m witnessing. I am asking the Lord for more prompting, more boldness, and more margin to act on His behalf and see the Holy Spirit show up. I’m chasing the wild goose of the Holy Spirit this year - An Geadh-Glas.
What are you asking the Lord for in 2025?
I remember learning about the Celtics seeing the Holy Spirit as a goose, too. It was amusing. I've always experienced geese through their hissing and intimidation. I'll have to check out that book!
I really like the Batterson quote, especially: "We want God to do something new while we keep doing the same old thing.” Thank you for sharing this.