Share this page"On The Wings of a Dove"
- Details
- Published on Wednesday, 19 October 2011 14:35
- Written by Stanton O. Berg
(Dedicated to June K. Berg)
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"On The Wings of a Dove"
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"On the wings of a snow white dove
He sends His pure sweet love
A sign from above
On the wings of a dove
When troubles surround us,
when evils come
The body grows weak,
The spirit grows numb
When these things beset us,
He doesn't forget us
He sends down His love
On the wings of a dove
On the wings of a snow-white dove
He sends His pure sweet love
A sign from above
On the wings of a dove”
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(Lyrics Written by Bob Ferguson Ca. 1948)
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Matthew 3:16 (KJV): “and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:”
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June's Funeral
During June's funeral service (October 27th 2008) our daughter Julie said that as the song “Take My Hand Precious Lord" was ending, (played by violin and a vocalist) and out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a bird fly across in front of the alter...
Her first reaction was to wonder what was a bird doing in the church sanctuary. If Julie really did see a bird, then I am sure it was June… Although no one else reported seeing a bird does not mean Julie did not see one...We do not all perceive the same.. We are not all endowed with or have the same powers of observation or perception.
I recall that Julie mentioned the event to me immediately after the funeral service...Later when she was again asked about it, she reaffirmed the event.
She reported what she saw was a movement from her right to her left. (She was sitting with the family in the front row on the left side of the church.) She recalled looking around to see if anyone else had noted it. After the service she even asked one of her friends Pam Stenstrom, who also served as a pall bearer, if she had seen anything unusual. She described the movement as a short period of time, similar to what one sees in the reflection and movement of a car headlight on a dark bedroom ceiling at night. Julie obviously saw something! (Stan Berg)
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Cathy and the Sparrow
This beautiful story comes from Sheila Joy Hutcherson of Lauderdale, Mississippi. Sheila tells of her dear friend Cathy, a lady in her fifties but with a mental handicap from birth leaving her with the mental age of 8. Cathy died near Christmas time from Pancreatic Cancer.
Sheila described Cathy as one who “loved just about every living thing that I kept on my small Mississippi farm”….”she was just crazy about birds, all kinds of birds”…”She’d tiptoe up to a robin perched on a fence post just to get a better look, her face aglow with childlike awe at one of God’s simple wonders.”…”what she lacked intellectually she made up for spiritually. She loved the world so much because she loved her maker so fully”. Sheila tells how Cathy would “lay her head against a spot on the left side of my chest, right over my heart, and rest it there ever so gently, lust long enough for me to feel a peacefulness flow into me”.
After Cathy’s death, Sheila felt the need for a sign that Cathy was at peace and was in heaven with the “Lord”. On a bitter cold January morning as she was preparing to go into town to run errands, Sheila got her sign.
As Sheila was leaving her home through her glassed in front porch, she was startled to see a small sparrow sitting on the floor of the porch. Sheila did not know how it got there as the porch doors were tightly closed to keep out the winter winds. She bent down and held out her hand…”The bird hopped into my palm, a soft little bundle of warmth, not trembling, not hurt, not sick”…she took it out and showed her Mom who was waiting for her in a small truck…her Mom held out her hand and it hopped onto her Mom’s hand…when Sheila took it back and lofted it into the air, instead of flying away it came down and landed on the left side of her chest, next to her heart. Sheila finishes the story…”The sparrow stayed there for just a moment, but it was long enough for me to feel that familiar infusion of peace…With that, the sparrow took flight, hovering for one final instant before disappearing among the trees.”
(Published in Guideposts Magazine, January 2013. This great magazine was first co-founded by Norman Vincent Peale many years ago…June subscribed to Guideposts in the days before Alzheimer’s took over her life…It still arrives in my mail box addressed to June. I look forward to its arrival each and every month and quickly check out some of my favorite features.)
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Friend’s Experiences
Lois Duncan - Sarasota, Florida- (17 October 2011): Lois is a Writer and the author of “Who Killed My Daughter?"
"Soon after our daughter, Kait's, murder, (1989) I woke in the night to see a white Dove hovering several feet over the bed.
The room was dark, but I could see the bird perfectly.
Then it flew up into the corner of the room and disappeared.
I was wide awake. Not dreaming.
I thought I was the only one this had happened to."
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Reverend Erma J. Yates - Savage, Minnesota - (January 2010):"It is very interesting about the bird your daughter saw flying across the alter. I believe her 100%.
My brother died one year ago tomorrow of cancer. We were very close although he was the baby boy. I went to Ohio, two days before he passed, he called my name and woke me from sleep. It was all very painful. I returned home after a week. Each evening and morning I'd cry for him. I could not believe he was gone. ...
I was laying in bed crying for him. A bird came to my bedroom window and starting singing.. more a call than singing... loud and clear, almost urgently.. Immediately I begin to smile. It was Ronnie, my brother! I jumped out of bed, trying to see the bird... then I ran through to the patio and there this big bird sat, calling and looking me in the eye. "Oh, Ronnie, thank you" I replied. "I won't cry anymore." The bird came each morning, waking me up with his call...I don't know what kind of bird it was; I showed him to Jarrelle. (Grandson) We looked for him on the internet, couldn't find one like it...This went on for about a week and then the bird stopped coming.
I have No doubt that it was my brother...If we trust God to show us, He will show us wondrous things in the most simple ways. We must allow our soul to be open and available, like a child, to hear beyond hearing and to see with more than eyes."
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Connie L. Malm Anderson - Osseo, Minnesota – (28 November 2012): “Mom passed at 2:20 PM on Sunday 6 Nov 2011. (All Saints Sunday) 
When I got to the hospice center that day about 11:00 the room was so dark that I pulled open the shade on the window next to her bed. She immediately turned her head and looked out and continued to look out until she passed. My brother was standing on that side of the bed and was blocking her view. With her head and eyes moving ,trying to see around him...I could see she was telling me he was blocking her view...I asked my brother to move out of her way...then she was happy.
I know she could see something and I believe it was my dad and sister letting her know they were waiting for her. My Pastor came and gave her blessings and ten minutes after that, mom passed.
I called my daughter as she was In Alexandria deer hunting. She was crying and said she knew it. At the moment my mother died, my daughter saw the clouds break and an Eagle sored through them. And she was 150 miles away…Because of the clouds breaking and the Eagle soaring between them I know this was not a coincidence. Those moments will live in my memory forever."
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Kathleen Dean - Fredericktown, Ohio – (28 November 2012):”My husband Don passed away on 30 August 2011. Don was in the later stages of Alzheimer's Disease and his third bout with cancer. We were able to keep him home and called on Hospice care. Don and I found out (the day after our 47th wedding anniversary on July 18th) that he had about six month to live.
On our way home from the doctor, Don asked me, "Did he say six months?" I replied, "Yes." Then Don asked, "How long is six months?" I told him..."We will spend Christmas together." Don smiled and said, "Okay." We were a 1/2 mile from home. By the time we arrived home Don had forgotten that he had even been to the doctor. He had no idea that we had been married.
My husband Don and I always liked to feed the Hummingbirds. About a week after Don passed away I was sitting on the back porch in my swing/chair very quietly; tears were flowing because I missed Don so very much.
A Hummingbird came right up to my face and hovered in front of my face.... looking into my eyes for a very long time. It was so close to my face that I could look into its eyes too. Then it flew away. I felt so at peace...I feel like it was Don's spirit that came to see me.”
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Lori Nelson Pollitt - Dallas, Texas - (18 January 2013): "Years ago I came across a young man almost as I believe, a divine appointment.
I felt the urging of the Holy Spirit and briefly witnessed to him. I felt in my spirit that he received what I had to say.
He was practicing stunts or tricks on his bicycle in a parking lot as I was going by. Previously, my two boys had expressed interest learning how to do the same thing, so I stopped and asked him about it. He told me that he competed in the sport and that he had been doing it for many years.
It seemed like he really appreciated my interest and I also sensed a little bit of sadness in him. I don’t know what his home life situation was, but it made me wonder if it wasn’t so good.
I truly sensed the Lord wanted me to let the young man know how much He loved him and what Christ did for him…
As I left, I walked a short distance down on the sidewalk then suddenly a beautiful white dove flew out in front of me.
It was remarkable and took my breath away! I had never seen a white dove in the wild.
I felt like it was confirmation from the Lord that this young man did take the message to heart and I praised God for it."
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The Holy Trinity Window at the Holy Spirit Chapel of the Benedictine Health Care Center of Innsbruck. (10.2' by 4.3') The center 1/3rd section of the window with the white dove is the “Holy Spirit” window and it is dedicated to “In Honor and Memory of my wife June K. Berg and my mother Ellen F. Silbaugh, both victims of Alzheimer’s." It is also in memory of the millions of World Wide Victims of Alzheimer’s with the prayer that God will grant them all Peace….Stan Berg and the Berg Family”
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Reader's Comments
Deanya Christy - Casper, Wyoming - (16 October 2011): "I love that song Stan, it is one my Mom used to sing arund the house. I believe your daughter saw a bird. I see or hear things and I know it is my brother. In our caregiver's support group we have a gentleman caretaking for his wife...her name is June. This man is kind and a gentle soul. It breaks my heart at times when he is brought to tears...Love it when he is able to chuckle...he is suffering so..."
Lora Rushing Robinson - Benton, Louisiana - (15 January 2013): "As usual, thank you for touching...my heart...my friend."
Jane Champagne Granger-Spencer - London, United Kingdom - (16 January 2013): "I'm certain the Dove was there but just especially for your daughter to see...The Lord works in mysterious ways ..."
Pat Middleton - West Palm Beach, Florida - (16 January 2013): "I fell into keeping my niece's little boy, five days a week, twelve hours a day. From four months to ten years old. My parents lived just down the street and I saw them everyday and little Brandon would be with me. Brandon spent a lot of time following my father around, imitating Dad and such. When Brandon was six years old my father passed away. At the church, during a prayer, I heard his little voice cry out, Mom, look there's Papa standing with the angels. He insisted my Dad was up front behind the pastor standing with angels. Brandon is fifteen years old now and he hasn't backed down or changed that story. My mother said right before the prayer she felt a sense of calm come over here that said to her she would make it because Dad would always be beside her. I wonder if that is when he arrived."
Lori Nelson Pollitt - Dallas, Texas - (18 January 2013):"Thanks for sharing your experience with June's funeral and the doves. Blessings to you."
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June's Passing
June's funeral notice as published in the Minneapolis Star in October 2008 can be seen on this website under the "In Memoriam" label - Click on:
"June K. (Rolstad) Berg - In Memoriam"
