Second Day in the Octave of Christmas

The sun is shining brightly and not a cloud is in the sky..not a negative word is heard, and there are no passers by. We are in an idyllic spot, surrounded by land and sky, and the road is dirt with melting snow which equals mud. The house is warm. The tiles are soaking up the heat and warming the room and me. We filled the bird feeder this morning and put out some bread crumbs as well. They haven't found them yet. Or them don't trust them yet. Which one is it?

I would really like to have the crows come round. One internet site says you can attract crows by putting out canned cat food. I might try it after we get to the store again. I know they like sunflower seeds because I used to put those out on a cookie sheet on my picnic table on the deck, and they came by regularly to eat them. When the seeds were gone, they would line up on the deck rail and walk sideways, first to the left and then to the right, back and forth, peering into the house to see if more seeds were on the way, I guess.

I love crows. They are raucous. They sometimes steal things though not as often as ravens do. They are highly intelligent. They are bullies, I know. I know. But nevertheless, I am always excited to see them. In some indigenous cultures, they are associated with mystery and even magic. Others believe that they are the carriers of prayers or messages from earth people to the spirit world. In any case, they seem wonderful to me and I would thoroughly enjoy seeing them sitting on the adobe wall here that surrounds our courtyard. This photo is of the crow that sits on our bookshelf in the living room.

Carl Jung spoke about the need to come to know and appreciate the shadow, the things we hide deep inside ourselves that complete our wholeness. The things we consider unacceptable and don't even acknowledge about ourselves. Unless we look and acknowledge and accept and integrate these shadow parts, we will not achieve real healing. We will not achieve the ability to perceive others as they are, because we will be too blinded by the projection of our own shadow onto others. Unless we gather up these parts of ourselves, we will remain broken. Perhaps it is another way of looking at redemption.

This crow, this loud, aggressive, bully, is also funny and intelligent and resourceful. Cranky and loyal. Wary and social. This AND that. Not this OR that. Unabashedly wholly crow, in all its seemingly imperfection. God made this crow. And I say, loves this crow. Could that mean that each of us is lovable too?

Wouldn't that be grand to know ourselves to be so wholly and completely acceptable in this our messy menudo of imperfect perfection! This is my prayer today.