Now Discern This: Look for the Ducks

I never noticed the ducks before.

 

I never had any reason to look that closely. After all, it’s not polite to stare into a stranger’s car.

 

But not long ago, my dad bought a Jeep. In the months that followed, we all learned a bit about Jeep culture.

 

That’s when I started to see the ducks.

 

“Jeep ducking” or “Duck Duck Jeep” is the practice shared among Jeep owners and enthusiasts of leaving rubber ducks on one another’s vehicles. It started in Canada in 2020 when a woman named Allison Parliament left a note that read “Have a great day” along with a duck on a fellow Jeep lover’s car. From Ontario, it spread — and now even my dad has a trio of ducks sitting on his dashboard.

 

Now, I notice the ducks on Jeep owners’ dashes. So do my girls. We may not drive a Jeep, but the outward display of community, of silliness and joy, is a delight to witness.

 

These little ducks are a real contrast to what we so often see on folks’ cars: bumper stickers and flags, magnets and sassy catch phrases, all things that point to some identifying factor.

 

I support this organization, this team. I believe in these values, this way of life. My kid goes to this school, that church. And so on.

 

This isn’t a bad thing, of course. Our beliefs and values are important; they guide our actions. They decide what gets us out of bed in the morning. But I wonder how often we lead with these self-referential details in our daily lives. We point to ourselves and who we are rather than wonder about our neighbors and what they believe — and why.

 

This is why I’m drawn to these ducks: They’re simple tokens of goodwill, deposited on the hoods of strangers’ cars or proudly displayed from the window of our own. They don’t lead with “me;” they point first to “us.” I hope you have a good day; I hope these bring you a smile; I hope together we bring this world a bit of joy. These ducks challenge us to wonder: What will it take to create an “us”?

 

I think of the Presupposition with which Ignatius begins the Spiritual Exercises, this challenge to assume first the best in another, to find in one another the good and to persevere in that quest even when it seems foolish. We put aside ideologies and preferences and instead simply assume the good. What strikes me about Ignatius’ advice is that it is interpersonal; it’s an instruction given for a one-to-one relationship “to assure better cooperation between the one who is giving the Exercises and the exercitant.” This offering of goodwill is an intimate affair; it’s small and personal and seemingly insignificant. And yet, within the context of the Exercises, it creates the space for God’s Spirit to work, for honesty and trust to make room for a sweeping examination of one’s life and purpose.

 

All thanks to that token of goodwill.

 

Today’s problems are big and overwhelming. Where do we begin? I’d suggest you find your own rubber duck — whatever that might mean to you — and offer it to a stranger. Make room in our world for the smallest amount of goodwill to break through.

 

It may seem insignificant — like that very first duck in a small Canadian town. But you know what? My family notices those ducks now; my dad gives his own away.

 

We persevere in our quest to find and draw out the good in one another. And we persevere in our commitment to share the good within ourselves. We muddle onward in that hope that we might yet build an ever-expanding vision of what it means to be one human family.

Eric Clayton is the deputy director of communications at the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. In his role, he manages the award-winning weekly column “Now Discern This,” a series on Ignatian spirituality and everyday living, as well produces video, audio and other digital content to share the riches of Ignatian spirituality with a general audience. Eric is also the author of two books on Ignatian spirituality: “My Life with the Jedi: The Spirituality of Star Wars” and  “Cannonball Moments: Telling Your Story, Deepening Your Faith”, both from Loyola Press. A third book on Ignatian spirituality and peace is forthcoming from Brazos Press in 2025. Learn more: ericclaytonwrites.com.

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