- Title: The Raven Who Spoke with God
- Author: Christopher Foster
- Publisher: Singing Spirit Books
- Form: Quality Paperback
- Illustrated: ---
- Number of Pages: 160
- ISBN: 0-9711796-0-3
- Price: $12.95 + $3.50 (Shipping) = $16.45
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PRAISE FOR THE
RAVEN WHO SPOKE WITH GOD
Foster
explores such themes as death and grieving, learning to be safe with an open
heart, the meaning of home, the power of stillness, the function of Being, and
the oneness of human and animal life. As I read the book, I thought, what a
wonderful way to introduce people of all ages to these timeless themes. Its easy
style and simplicity of expression make it a perfect vehicle for deep
conversation and insightful learning.
— Communaissance
magazine.
…And
that’s the blessing of this book. While we innocently are reading about this
interesting raven and his adventures, we find a mirror for our own life
adventure…This is one of those books that can serve both as a children’s
book and an adult book (in the same vein as The Little Prince and Jonathan
Livingston Seagull). I enjoyed it and recommend it.
— Inner
Self magazine.
Buoyant
as the air through which the birds soar, the story lifts the heart and carries
it, dancing lightly, all the way through to the end. Heartwarming and
delightful, this is a book you will read and then instantly think of ten friends
to whom it must be lent.
— NAPRA
ReView.
A sweet
fable about living in the joy of the present, featuring a young raven named
Joshua who learns to look to his heart, to the stillness within, for answers to
every despair.
— The
Boox Review.
The
only thing I didn’t like about the book was that it ended. But the story goes
on. I had sprained my back and took some time to just get still and partake of
some good story medicine. When I finished the book I went out on my deck and
three ravens raced by kworking. We had pretty brisk winds here and they appeared
to be going about a hundred miles an hour. That was the first time I had seen or
heard ravens in these parts (Northwest Arkansas.) The story was a process, a
gift and a sweet journey. May it touch the hearts of millions.
— Tom
Morin, Editor, Seeds of a New Humanity.
Having a
raven as an ally is powerful medicine indeed. Christopher Foster has paid a
wonderful tribute to our feathered friends.
— Angeles
Arrien, PhD., author, The Four-Fold Way.
The Raven Who Spoke With God is an inspired fable of spiritual growth. Joshua
is a good scout leading us into the territory of spiritual awareness of the
oneness of all life…we fly into the beauties as well as the sacrifices and
horrors of the natural web of life. Christopher Foster’s prose flows like
poignant poetry. This is an enduring and endearing tale that invites humanity to
respect and work with the creatures that co-inhabit this beautiful earth with
us.
— Meredith Hulse, Co-Editor, Arising Arts.
Foster
pulls the reader irresistibly into the world of other creatures to illuminate
timeless truths. This book will speak straight to your heart.
— Dawson Church, author, Facing Death, Finding
Love.
A
riveting story about following and fulfilling your dream. Nature’s wisdom is
presented in adventuresome, radiant prose…We are reminded that the only
natural, enlightened reality is the experience and joy of the Now moment
— Mindquest
reviews.
A
wonderful fable, very well written and filled with love and wisdom. Now that
I’ve read The Raven, I will loan my copy to a friend who loves animals and is
having a hard time finding direction and purpose.
— Robert Gerzon, author, Finding Serenity in The
Age of Anxiety.
The book
helps to bring a little peace in a difficult time.
— Margaret
Wallace, former Education Director, Denver Botanical Gardens.
The wolves stopped to drink and play in a creek on
the way to their den. Joshua bathed too, dipping his head and body into the
water, beating his feathers. He loved water so much, and for a few moments he
reveled in the simple pleasure of the moment. As the stream poured deliciously
over him he felt refreshed, and he quite forgot about his loss and his grief.
But the happiness did not last. Despair soon caught up with him and reminded him
again how miserable he was, and how empty and futile his life had become.
Will
these dark feelings never leave? he thought
sadly. What is to become of me? Will I
ever be free of this pain?
Jimmybob made one more stop. About a hundred yards
from his den he paused and sniffed intently at the trunk of a tree. Apparently
satisfied that no rival had tried to intrude upon his domain, he lifted a hind
leg and sprayed the tree. The steady golden stream spattered against the gray
bark with a satisfying noise and dribbled in tiny rivulets to the ground.
Joshua watched the ritual with interest. No doubt about who owns this territory. The other wolves also
needed to urinate after their drink at the creek, but protocol, of course,
forbade them from doing so in a standing posture. Instead, to show proper
deference to their leader, they squatted on their hindquarters, ensuring that
their scent would be less noticeable than his.
Jimmybob showed Joshua the entrance to his den,
located near a crevice beneath two rocks. Clusters of beautiful blue and yellow
lupines grew near the entrance, adding a pleasant touch to the abode.
“My family has used this den for over thirty
years,” the wolf said proudly. “My great-grandfather dug it.” Even as he
spoke his mate emerged from the underground cave, blinking in the sunlight,
followed by four pups. After casting a watchful eye at Joshua, the female wolf
gave Jimmybob an affectionate greeting, nuzzling him and licking his mouth and
face.
“So who’s this?” she asked, examining Joshua
with a touch of annoyance as he stood awkwardly to one side, trying not to be
self-conscious.
“This is my friend, Joshua,” said Jimmybob.
“He’s young and lonely and he’s had a hard time the past few days. Lost
all his family in a massacre. I promised him a piece of pheasant—if the pups
haven’t eaten it all. Joshua, this is my mate, Ethel.”
Joshua could tell the she-wolf was not particularly
delighted at his presence, but she nodded in a matter-of-fact manner. “Dumb
raven’s in luck,” she said. “And so are you, Jimmybob. They tried to
finish it off but I gave them a good cuff and told them not to be greedy little
monsters.”
The she-wolf turned and looked at Joshua again. Her
gaze softened. “Wait here a minute,” she said, disappearing silently from
view.
Jimmybob began playing with his pups. He seized the
most aggressive one gently in his jaws and shook it for a few moments. When he
released it, the young pup staggered briefly but then came back to the attack,
trying hard to get its teeth into the adult’s thick coat. The other youngsters
joined in. Jimmybob rolled around, fighting and playing with them and pretending
to give howls of rage.
“Mmm,” said Joshua, as a large chunk of
pheasant materialized before him. He gurgled with delight as he began eating.
“Mmm,” said Jimmybob.
After they had eaten, the wolf leader stretched out
by the side of a rock. “You’ve had a hard time, Joshua,” he said, after
making himself comfortable. “Do you want to talk about it? I’m a good
listener. Why don’t you just start at the beginning and tell me your story?”
And so Joshua did just that. He shared the dreams
and aspirations that had beckoned him since he was young.
He told of his love for his hero, El-Shikur, and
how he had longed to follow his example and be a helpmate to humans.
He described his efforts to meditate, and he even
shared how his brother and sisters dropped sticks and dung on him because he was
different from them.
And finally he told of his fight with his father,
and the horrifying moment when he watched the young humans massacre his family.
“They used long sticks that made a loud noise,” he said. “There was no
reason. No reason at all. And so now I know that either the Great Spirit does
not exist, or else he simply does not care what happens to ravens.”
Joshua paused, nearly choking in his bitterness.
“My father was right,” he said. “There is no such thing as truth. I was naïve
and foolish. Humans hate us and despise us. All they want to do is to kill us.
It’s true, isn’t it? You must have found the same thing. I’m right,
aren’t I?”
He looked at his new friend anxiously, pleading
with him to agree.
But the wolf appeared to be in no hurry to reply.
He was watching a flock of Canadian geese as they winged by high overhead,
following their leader in V-formation.
“I’m not sure if you should judge all humans by
those kids that killed your family,” said Jimmybob thoughtfully. “Maybe I
should tell you a story Grandpa told me one time. He was pretty young when this
happened.
“Food was scarce and he was checking out a farm
for chickens when he got himself shot. He wasn’t seriously wounded, but he was
so weak from hunger that he collapsed a few hours later. He figured he was going
to die of starvation, but a man found him and gave him some food.”
“The human helped him?” said Joshua
incredulously.
“He certainly did. Saved his life. Grandpa used
to say it changed his life, too. I guess he was lying there, expecting to be
killed, but then he saw a warm light in the human’s eyes. It was like a glow,
and as soon as he saw it, he knew everything was going to be all right.
“The human spoke to him like a friend and left
him a piece of bacon. Somehow it triggered a memory for Grandpa of a time long
ago when animals and humans understood each other and loved each other. He used
to talk to me about it sometimes—how in the vision, humans had a presence that
made animals feel calm and safe, so that they didn’t have to be afraid. Why,
there was no such thing as a wild animal in those days, according to Grandpa.”
“So what happened?” cried Joshua. “Why did
things change?”
Jimmybob frowned. There was sadness in his eyes.
“How do I know?” he replied. “All I know is they did change. Grandpa said
humans became mean, and cruel, most of them anyway, and animals hid in the
forest to protect themselves. But he said the important thing is, there’s a
shift happening, and humans are starting to get in touch with their inner light
once again.”
“But I still don’t understand why they act the
way they do,” said Joshua. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“You’re right. It doesn’t. Grandpa figured
that deep down, they’re frightened and ashamed, because they’ve lost their
peace. They’re out of step with the universe, but they won’t admit it. They
keep telling themselves everything is gorkydoo.”
“Gorkydoo?” asked Joshua, puzzled.
Jimmybob frowned again. He didn’t like to be
interrupted.
“It’s a wolf word,” he said. “Anyway, the
point is, Joshua, you’ve got to be true to your mission. You can’t quit.
It’s terrible what happened to your family, but look at it this way. More and
more humans are beginning to change.
We’ve got to stay steady and show them that no matter what they’ve done to
us over the years, we support them. We’ve got to show them some compassion and
understanding.”
Once again the wolf leader stopped speaking, but
this time he closed his eyes. Soon he was asleep like the other wolves.
How
quiet it is, Joshua thought. It was quiet
outside and it was quiet inside, in his heart. He felt calm, like a pond. He
felt healed, as if a great weight had been lifted off his back.
Jimmybob
is right. Of course
I’m not going to give up my mission. I’m going to be true to myself no
matter where it leads me. Humans need me in this time of crisis.
Suddenly Joshua knew what it was that he had been
trying to remember ever since the massacre. It was the voice that spoke to him
in his time of danger and saved his life.
It
must have been the trauma that made it hard to remember.
A tremendous joy swept through him as he remembered
the love he had felt when the voice spoke to him, enfolding him in the midst of
his terror.
As he drifted off to sleep like the rest of the
pack, he realized he loved the voice more than anything in the world, and he
could never deny it or be untrue to it.
When he awoke an hour later everything was clear in
his mind. “It’s time for me to go,” he said to Jimmybob. “You have
helped me so much, and I will always love you. I want you to know that I am
going to be true to my vision no matter what.”
The wolf grinned, a huge, lopsided grin that showed
lots of his formidable teeth.
“Remember, any time you need help you only got to
ask, young feller.”
His mate was busy digging something up from the
ground. She retrieved a piece of venison and brought it over to Joshua. “I hid
this last week,” she said. “Been saving it for a special occasion. Take it,
you may need it.”
Joshua thanked her and said goodbye to his new
friends. He grasped the meat gratefully in his bill and then, not knowing what
else to say, he took a couple of quick hops to get up speed and simply flew
away.
The wolves watched the black shape of the raven
slowly disappear toward the south.
“Will he be all right?” the female asked, a
hint of worry in her voice. “He’s awful young to be setting out into the
world on his own.”
“He’ll be fine,” said Jimmybob. “Don’t
you worry about Joshua. He’s got more stuff in him than he knows.” A hopeful
thought crossed his mind. “I don’t suppose there’s any more pheasant, is
there, Ethel?”
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