FED BY A RAVEN

    The presence of God in our lives, and the way he manifests Himself, can be completely different from person to person. The way He supplies our needs and speaks to us can also be very interesting. I absolutely love the idea of “be still and know that I am God.”
    Be still...and know. It’s so hard to do in the 21st century.
    This is a poem I wrote with Elijah in mind, as he sat by the brook after running away from Jezebel in fear. Even in his weakness, Elijah was loved by God and taken care of by God. This particular visitation was not terribly normal though.


I spotted the bird through the foliage
approaching slowly
from twig to safe branch as he
studied me carefully.
The pangs of my hunger awakened
when I spotted his burden.
It was freshly baked manna.
The yawning sun slanted through green leaves and lichens
sending twinkles in sprays
from the shimmering brook
painting the glorious air
with reflected shards of
the river's sweet dithyramb.
The corvid’s great beak gripped his cargo
like a jewel, and
after pausing for several painful moments
he croaked a soft caw and
alighted on the ground at my feet.
He slowly deposited the manna on my right foot
and without further adieu
hopped away and flapped off into the 
deep, golden beams of delicious illumination;
God’s ethereal arms of acceptance reaching down
to provide for all my needs and to hold me,
the privileged passenger of a benignant
and miraculous morning.

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