Thanking the Raven

I woke up this morning and gave thanks to the raven.  In his mystical, magnanimous way, he’s again stolen back the sun. Raven is bringing us the light that illuminates the still bare trees, the tiny juncos seeking ground seeds and the my little dogs’ foray into the new day.   For those of you unfamiliar with the story of the raven bringing sun, it’s a tale I heard and saw depicted in Alaska folklore and art for the eight years we lived there. 

If you’ve never seen one, a raven is a beautiful, clever, giant-of-a-scavenger bird with iridescent blue/black feathers and an almost human cry.  According to the stories of different Alaska villages, raven stole back the sun (and in some versions the stars and the moon as well) from an evil shaman who had secreted it away above the clouds – bringing cold and darkness to the earth below.  Traditional storytelling says that this is the annual gift of the raven – to bring back the sun after a long, dark Alaska winter. 

Although I no longer live in Alaska, I still rejoice as the days grow longer – and the earlier sunrise is a certain delight.  Never a night owl, I always have loved the morning best of all.  It’s my favorite time of day – and the spring is likewise my favorite season – full of hints of soon-to-be-revealed beauty, a suggestion of change and promise of new learning.

Waking happy at the prospect of every new day is a gift.  No matter what may happen as my day proceeds, I wake in joy each day.  Morning reminds me anew that I can live only in the present moment.  There’s no need to re-run the disappointments of the previous day.  There’s no value in rushing to “figure out” the future.  If I am not present for this moment, if I choose instead to rue or reminisce the past; or to rush or ready for the future, the new day pleasures will be forever gone for this day.  I will not be able to return to this moment to appreciate the sunrise through the trees, the quiet of my pre-dawn kitchen, the still-warm puppy belly of my youngest dog.   I’m not willing to give that up!

Presence is a connection that calls forth authenticity.  It beckons you out of your head and into the world.  Living in the moment you notice how you fuel your body, and eat with intention.  Living in the moment you make yourself available to others, and lead with intention.  Living in the moment you recognize your framing of the world, and open your mind to new learning.

How present are you?  Ask yourself these three questions:

• What did you have for breakfast?
• What did you notice about the world around you on your ride to work today?
• When you politely inquired of a colleague, “How are you?” what did you notice about their response?

Is anyone present every moment?  Well, perhaps the most practiced of wise- men and women, perhaps.  Thankfully, it’s not an all or nothing proposition for the rest of us, it is an opportunity we always have available to us . . . in every moment.  

Breathe, smile, awake to your presence -- and don't forget to thank the raven.