Christain Viewpoint: Tale of grief, loss and letting go wrapped up in Silverwing has something to reveal to us all
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Silverwing is a newly-published book for children by Scottish author Kenneth Steven. It’s the story of a boy and his dad coping with their loss of Anne, mum and wife, writes John Dempster.
Silverwing, a wounded greylag goose Douglas finds and cares for is central to the story, drawing Douglas and his father closer together in their shared grief.
When Douglas heard Anne had cancer, “he’d prayed his mum would get better and she hadn’t, no matter how often and how hard he had pleaded”. Can the boy ever again believe, hope? Will his brittle longing to see Silverwing take to the air and head back to Iceland in the spring be similarly dashed?
This beautifully told, deeply felt story with lovely illustrations by Ishy Walters is set in rural Scotland. Despite a mention of the internet it has a retro feel, possibly reflecting Kenneth’s own 1960s’ childhood.
Though the book isn’t overtly Christian, I know that the author’s Christian mind lies behind its treatment of universal themes, discerning the finger of God who shares our human pain as we journey forward in our grief.
Douglas finds healing through investing himself in another living creature, Silverwing and through his immersion in nature.
He finds healing in the sense that Anne, though “gone” physically, was still present somewhere in a different dimension, hearing him as he whispers on her grave. He dreams that somewhere in the forest he meets his mum, fit and well and notices she has wings like a bird, an angel.
He finds healing through talking with his dad about Anne, looking at old photos, living in her childhood home over Christmas, hearing about his parents’ teenage dates and sleeping in the room which had once been hers, finding something of her in himself.
He finds healing in discovering his true gift. He draws Silverwing with such creative certainty that the image seems there on the blank page from the start simply waiting to be released. He wins a county-wide art competition.
I wonder in what form the Silverwing God appears to us? The person, the creature, the situation where there is brokenness and vulnerability. As we intervene to bring healing, so our own healing progresses. Greys dissolve into colour. We learn again to believe and to hope.
On the bittersweet day when Silverwing spreads his pinions and heads north-west Douglas understands fully the pain of his loss and his dad’s loss, and lets his mother go as it were in Silverwing’s slipstream.
Is Silverwing a symbol of Christ, through whose brokenness we are healed? And when autumn comes, and Silverwing returns to greet us, will he bring our loved ones in his wake in a great skein of greylag wings?
