Prayer and Presence Together
11/20/09 Spiritual Presentations
Every morning this time of year we prepare the boat and leave the dock; the same raven appears and accompanies us for miles as we make our rounds. There are other ravens around, but only one follows us throughout our work. I think this is the third fall this oddity has taken place, and I suspect it’s the same raven each year.
I’m under no delusion that most animal behavior is not food-oriented. But this goes well beyond that kind of motivation. The raven merely goes with us, and when we land at the dock again back home, it goes back to whatever it does all day and we notice it no more.
This of itself is amazing, but today it took on a new twist. As I usually do, I was meditating and praying as I rode in the boat. Today I was thinking of the morning devotional on which the prayer “Hasten, O God, to save me; O Lord, come quickly to help me.” (Psalm 70:1) was being expounded. I thought of this prayer to God in conjunction with the raven as a sign from God, and I wondered if the two might come together as one manifestation – sort of like the mystic experience as prayer and presence coming together.
As soon as I said the prayer with this thought in mind, the raven lowered its flight to just above me in the boat; keeping up with us perfectly in sync as if all else was standing motionless, and it began calling continuously. Never had the raven approached the boat this closely before, and never did it call continuously. That it chose this moment to do this was for me not a surprise, but a validation.
My husband always said his Indian family believed it possible to come back after death as an animal. In fact we’ve been calling this raven “My Old Grandmother”. I don’t believe we come back after death at all, but I very much believe in the ability of God to reach out to make Himself known to us in any way He wishes. He has put me in the state of mind where I can welcome and expect this visitation, and I have used my free will to recognize and accept His attention.
What a joy it is to be in harmony with God and to know it. It is a cycle of being loved and loving that keeps validating itself the more it goes around. I’m grateful for whatever good spins off from this cycle of love between Creator and creation.
