Where have you been?
The ravens are back. Every morning this week they have greeted me on the sidewalk at the entry to the church. They haven’t said much, they usually just hop around and give me an inscrutable look.
This morning there was just one raven on the sidewalk. She was nibbling on the remnants of some popcorn that someone had spilled there. She was finishing a feast that had been left for her, I like to imagine by a child who spilled the last of her treat on the ground. Maybe it was an accident, maybe it was intentional. The raven didn’t seem to care. Popcorn! Hop, hop, hop. Delicious! Her curious look seems to say, “Good morning. Where have you been?”
Great question. Where have YOU been? What meandering path has led you to this day, this morning or evening, this very day in which you find yourself? Are you where you thought you’d be when you were younger? Does where you find yourself match up with the vision you had of yourself a year ago, or even yesterday? I hope that, wherever you find yourself today you are both surprised and comforted by God’s wild grace.
I don’t know why, but there haven’t been many ravens around the church campus lately. Robyn noticed their absence first and knowing that we share a special place in our hearts for them, asked me where I thought they had gone. Who knows? Only the ravens know where they have been.
What I do know is that scavenging ravens and crabapple trees laden with heavy fruit that is now drying out and falling to the ground are my guides. Deer bedded down in the slant fall sun, conserving their energy for the coming winter are my spiritual directors. Creeks running low, some drying out, still sing a quieter, barely perceptual autumn song.
Most of the songbirds and geese have congregated and headed toward warmer climes. Many of you who read this are gathering up your things to do the same. It’s migration time. I wish you Godspeed and hope for you a beautiful winter. And many are getting ready for another, or maybe your first winter in Jackson Hole. Let’s hope for plenty of snow interspersed with cold clear bluebird days and jet black raven nights.
Stay open, stay curious, stay warm.
Peace,
Brian
