Mr. Raven and Clasping Tightly

The roots of old trees
The cool Spring breeze -
God's presence in your breath.
Sing a line, dear Mr. Raven
Be gentle, for me, a haven - 
Calling lines that sing -
A grace of life, is death.
If falling asleep is life,
And the constant, daily strife
Is the choice we grasp in hand,
Then truly waking is to live,
But only if we can give
Away our clutching hand - 
To freely stand.

This little poem came out of the morning air, in a few minutes of quiet reflection over coffee one day recently. As the world turns topsy turvy, these words came like a refreshing rain. I opened my journal and it flowed right out like a gentle stream in the mountains. 

Unless you have read Lilith, by George MacDonald, you would not catch all the references made to his twisted and strange tale that is one of my favourite books. The ideas and character struggles through the story help me grasp life with a new sense of imagination. The wisdom of Mr. Raven, sleeping to wake up to real life (from death to life), clasping in hand that which you cannot let go of, these are themes of the story that cause the reader to ponder the choices of life - to let go or cling to. We and only we, are able to freely let go and thus freely stand. We have to choose good and let it sweep over us in a sleep that leads to an unknown remembered gate.

We are free to choose, but often in our freedom we choose to become dependent and enslaved to something.

"What right have you to treat me so, Mr. Raven?" I said with deep offence. "Am I, or am I not, a free agent?" 

"A man is as free as he chooses to make himself, never an atom freer," answered the raven. 

"You have no right to make me do things against my will!" 

"When you have a will, you will find that no one can." 

"You wrong me in the very essence of my individuality!" I persisted. 

"If you were an individual I could not, therefore now I do not. You are but beginning to become an individual."

Each time I remember this, I become awakened again to ask myself if I am holding onto anything that I need to truly let go of. It is something we must address regularly, as we tend to collect things to hold onto if various ways. In Lilith, the character Lilith is clasping onto something tightly, she literally has it in her hand, gripping so that no one can see what it is, and she cannot let it go. She realizes that she cannot move on without letting that "thing" go. She is not able to open her hand as the wound she holds onto is too deep, but only when she chooses and asks that her hand be cut off that she is free and able to sleep.

A choice must be made, every now and then, to clean out the clutter, or we run the risk of being ruled by such things. We may not notice how we cling to bitterness about a situation, or a person. We may silently begrudge someone or something in our subconscious because we have not given it away. To be free of such negative allotments in our minds and hearts is to be made more fully into who God made us to be. You and I cannot be more deeply who we are meant to be if there are pieces taking up space that do not belong there.