Our home was on beautiful Buckhorn Lake, a couple of miles from the church.
The phone rang. It was my secretary who was working in her office at the church. She sounded concerned, actually afraid. I listened, Mary Ann said:
There is a strange knocking sound coming from somewhere
near the back of the church. I have gone back and looked
around and can’t find anything. There is no one else in the
building with me, or at least, I don’t think there is.
I have the doors locked. Every once in a while, I hear it.
I go check, but I can’t find anything. Now, I am getting scared.
Knowing that Mary Ann has never before called or felt fearful, I knew it was important that I get over there right away. “Coming,” I said, “Be there in a couple of minutes.”
When I arrived, there was only Mary Ann’s car in the parking lot. I didn’t see anyone else around. I went inside to see how she was doing. Once again, she told me the same information as she had on the phone.
While we were talking, she paused. “Listen. Do you hear it?”
I was quiet and listened. Yes, I heard it. A very distinct knocking sound, as if someone was knocking at the side door in the rear of the church. We both walked back, listening carefully as we went. Passing by the large classrooms, we poked our heads into each to see where the sound might be coming from. Only tables and chairs in each of the rooms. The knocking, tapping sound was intermittent, and it continued sporadically but insistently.
When we got to the last classroom, it seemed the loudest. I walked in slowly. scanning the area in hopes of locating the source of this strange sound. The classrooms had long narrow windows that went all the way to the ground. My eyes followed the length of the last window to the ground.
There it was. I huge black bird, A Crow - almost looked like a Raven it was so large, but it was a Crow. And No, it wasn’t pecking at the window as one might think. I was using it’s left wing to strike the window repeatedly. The boney bent part of the wing - what I think of as the shoulder. It was intently looking into the glass and banging on the pane.
I was concerned that the Crow would hurt itself. After all, it had been doing this on and off for hours now. Mary Ann confirmed that that was the sound she had been hearing throughout the day. I carefully went out of the classroom to the side back door and opened it gently. Sticking my head out, I said to the insistent Crow, who, by the way, in some traditions is known to be Creator’s Messenger Bird, kind of like some think about Archangel Gabriel as a Messenger Angel.
“Crow, thank you for coming. You have my attention. Have you come with a message? Please stop banging on the window. I don’t want you to hurt yourself. I will listen to your message.”
The Crow looked up at me, stopped banging on the window, and flew to the top of the church. I found some food to put outside that window to offer as my gift of gratitude for this special visit.
I made a commitment to listen and to pay attention to the message that Crow was bringing. The next day when I arrived at the church, I noticed on the steel beamed Cross that stood high at the front of the building, there were two large Crows waiting for me.
I walked to the same side of the building where Crow first announced its visit. In that area, the church had a Medicine Wheel, a place of Prayer, constructed of Stone on the ground. I went there to sit and to listen to the message from Crow. I did this for several days. Each day bringing some feed to leave for the Crows. There were at least three now coming for these daily visits. No longer were they banging on the church windows. But they were showing up every day when I sat in prayer to listen at the Wheel.
During this time, we had an event at the church where the public were invited to come to learn from a variety of different spiritual and mystical teachers. While the event was in progress, I was called to the phone. It was a search committee from Texas offering me the opportunity to interview with them for a possible pastorate in El Paso, Texas. I wasn't thinking about leaving North Oakland. I was surprised by this call. I know to take these things seriously, because one never knows when the Holy Spirit is key to the moment.
I didn’t tell anyone about the nature of that call.
There was a group of women who ran a therapeutic heated pool in the area. Doctors referred patients to them for heated water therapy. After hours they would invite spiritually like-minded friends to come for Flotation Meditation. I helped lead this program. It was awesome. People strapped on flotation equipment and then relaxed in the very warm deep water. We used soft music, floated lit candles on the water and I did the heartbeat drumming as people meditated while floating in deep states of consciousness.
This evening one of the women who owned the facility said to me. You know you are leaving us, don’t you? I was so surprised by her comment. I asked what she meant. She said that she was aware that I had been working with the church these past three years to complete the building of the Medicine Wheel. She knew that I only had three more stone people to place in the Medicine Wheel. Since we placed one stone a month, this meant a period of three months- time. She said that when I completed the Wheel, I would be leaving
I had not told anyone about the phone call. How could she know something that I didn’t?
Have a great day, as you LISTEN to the Messengers sent to guide you on your life’s path. Be sure to write down the Messenger and the Message.
The rest of the story will have to wait for the next Reflection.
Deep peace to you,
Carol
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