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Raccoon and Beaver Raccoon awoke to a beautiful summer morning. He stretched himself and scampered out from his hollow sycamore tree. "What a wonderful day to be alive!" Raccoon said as he went bounding across the meadow. He stopped abruptly to smell a flower. From the corner of his eye, he saw an orange butterfly and went after it. He jumped high in the air but missed the butterfly and landed, thump, on his back. Raccoon just lay there for awhile, blissfully soaking in the summer sun. Directly, Raccoon got up and went on his way. Stopping in a blackberry thicket, Raccoon picked all the juicy fruit he could eat. He put some more berries in the little pouch he carried on his belt. "These are for later," Raccoon said, "perhaps to share with a friend." Raccoon then left some tobacco, to show his gratitude. Raccoon ambled on down to the creek, where he knew Beaver would be busy working on his dam. It seemed that dam was never finished. Coming to the edge of the beaver pond, Raccoon dabbled his paws in the water as if trying to catch a minnow. From the corner of his eye, Raccoon was watching Beaver. Beaver was pushing a log across the pond to his dam, completely ignoring Raccoon. All of a sudden, Raccoon did a complete summersault, landing, splash, in the pond. "Help! help!" Raccoon cried, floundering around on his back in the water. "Help! help! Please save me!" Raccoon called as he floated noisily across the pond. Beaver was well aware that Raccoon was an expert swimmer. He also knew that Raccoon was always up to some trick or other, in an attempt to get someone to play with him. So, Beaver continued steadfastly pushing the log toward the dam, just as if Raccoon was nowhere around. Just then Raccoon bumped his head on the end of a log that was protruding from the dam. Raccoon climbed out onto the dam, shook himself and said, "Friend Beaver, your most wonderful, marvelous, magnificent dam has just saved my life!" There was no response from Beaver, who by this time was positioning the log on the inside of the dam. "Beaver, I was drowning. I was surely a goner, but your beautiful and most solidly built dam saved my life!" There was still no response from Beaver, who was now patting mud around the log to hold it in place. "Beaver, this is an occasion worthy of a celebration! I know of a bee tree, Beaver, so full of honey that the bees are fairly begging for someone to come and take it away. Let's you and me go, Beaver. You can cut down the tree, and we can have a feast of honey. Afterward, I know of a lovely meadow in which you and I can dance a Friendship Dance. Anyone who wants is welcome to join in. What do you say, Beaver?" "Raccoon," Beaver said. "I have no time to play with you today. "Beaver," said Raccoon. "All summer I've been watching you. All you do is work on this dam. I've never once seen you run through a meadow or smell a flower or chase a butterfly. I've never even seen you lie belly upwards in the grass, just to soak up the summer sun." "Raccoon," Beaver said, "I've no time to talk with you now. I must finish my dam. Winter is coming, and where will you be? You will have nothing to eat and no warm place to sleep, for all you do is play." With that, Raccoon walked sadly away. He puzzled over what Beaver had said. Always he had trusted in Creator for his care. Mother Earth had always provided him with something to eat, and he had his warm, dry, hollow sycamore tree in which to sleep. "The nerve of that raccoon," Beaver grumbled to himself, "to think I should leave my work to play with him!" Beaver was so intent on his work and on his grumbling that he didn't notice the big black clouds gathering in the west. He didn't notice the thunder and lightning and the heavy rain that was already falling upstream of his little beaver pond. All of a sudden, a flash flood of water came whooshing down the creek, catching up Beaver and flinging him against his precious dam. Beaver and his dam went crashing and tumbling downstream. Beaver was in a tight fix. His leg was caught between two logs of what had been his dam, and the water was rising. "Help!" Beaver cried. "Please save me!" As the rain poured down, Raccoon was safe and dry in his hollow sycamore tree. He poked his nose out a hole and stuck his tongue out to catch a stream of water dribbling off a leaf and suddenly heard Beaver's cries for help. Quick as a wink, Raccoon was out running through the driving rain. He found Beaver in the flooding creek, pried up a log and freed his leg. Raccoon then led Beaver back to his hollow sycamore tree where the two shared a feast of, somewhat soggy, blackberries. So, now if you are very quiet when walking in the woods, you may come across a flowery meadow, peek around a tree and see Raccoon and Beaver dancing a Friendship Dance with honey smeared on their noses. And if you are really quiet, one day when you go down to the creek, you may just see Raccoon helping Beaver to build his dam. And so it is good.
Raccoon and Beaver: What can we learn from this story?
There are many things to
learn from Raccoon and Beaver in this story. Raccoon began his day by giving
a word of thanksgiving and praise. "What a wonderful day to be alive!" I can
imagine raccoon standing outside his little den with his little paws to the
sky soaking in the rays of the sun on his face. He had just woken up and had
no idea what his day was going to be like. Yet, he began his day with joy,
happiness and thanksgiving. Raccoon then bounded off enjoying his life,
playing, and relishing his morning in God's creation. How often do we get up
in the morning and exclaim with faith that its a good day? Try starting your day with a song, prayer or both. This is a traditional form of worship amongst native people. The Cherokee go to a river, creek or stream as the sun is coming up and then pour the cool water over their head as they pray. Beginning the day with thanksgiving, a morning song, and prayer. Many times with hands lifted up to the sky towards our Creator. (We were charismatic long before that movement began-lol) What is important is that you are laying the foundation for how your day will be, based on the words that you speak that morning. Psalm 69:30
- I will praise
God's name in song Raccoon then teaches us about taking and giving. We never take something without giving something back. This is one of the first things that our elders teach us as children. When Raccoon gathered the blackberries he left tobacco. Tobaccos is what we use to pray with and is a sacred herb that is never to be used for self gratification. It is an offering unto God and since God provided Raccoon with food he gave the tobacco in exchange for what he had been given. Maybe you don't have tobacco but you have a little bit of time that you can volunteer to your church.
Soon we come to Beaver. Hard working and not wanting to be distracted form his work. Parents listen up! many of us become Beaver sometimes. Too busy working to stop and smell the flowers and to have fun with the little raccoons in our lives. Raccoon teaches the adults how children see us. They don't understand the responsibility that comes with today's world, raising a family, providing food and shelter. They see us working working working while they enjoy life and play. The hurt sets in when we tell them to go away, as if they are bothersome to us. We might even ask them, don't you understand? we have to pay this bill, we have to buy food, we have to make the car payment. No, they do not understand, its hard for them to relate and with their little hearts full of the same joy that Raccoon had they want to see us feel the happiness and joy that they feel out of their love for us. Mathew 19:14 4Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me. Don't keep them away. The kingdom of heaven belongs to people like them."
Beaver works long and hard at making his dam so he can weather out the storms. He yells at Raccoon for not thinking ahead. Raccoon doesn't understand where Beaver is coming from so he goes away thinking of how The Creator provides for his every need and wondering why Beaver doest realize this.
Psalm 145 15-17 The eyes of
all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. Beaver is preparing for the
future in his mind when all those long hours of toil and labor were lost in
an instant. There are many times when we have our nose buried in our labors
and we become so short sited that we don't see the storms in the distance.
Beaver, although he was working, complained and grumbled. Complaining is the
opposite of Praising. I bet if Beaver had been on top of his dam praising
instead of complaining Beaver would have seen the storm clouds forming. God
gives us warning many times yet we are too engrossed in our lives and what
we are doing to see them and recognize them.
Raccoon is sitting in his warm little hollow while the storms rage right in front of him. Is he complaining or grumbling? No, he is sticking his tongue out and catching raindrops from a leaf. Even through the middle of a storm we can still find joy in the smallest thing. Psalm 10:6 He says to himself, "Nothing will shake me; I'll always be happy and never have trouble." After a heroic rescue, Raccoon and Beaver share a soggy meal of blackberries. I bet Beaver was glad that Raccoon had thought ahead or he would have been hungry. Not only that, Raccoon was was forgiving the whole time and never once did he bring up what had happened earlier in the day. He didn't rub it in Beavers face or make him feel ashamed for the harsh words that Beaver had spoken to him. Instead he brought him in and shared what little he had. Instead of hurt, hungry, and wet they were now safe and warm in the hollow of Raccoons sycamore tree... . Then later we hear of them dancing together and working together. Jesus loved all people no matter who they were, where they were from, what they did as a profession, how hard they worked or how hard they played. One day we might be "beaver" stuck in the dam of our own problems that we have created. Be observant and keep an eye out because we never know who might come along. God might be sending "raccoon" to help pull your leg out of the dam. John 15:12 "Here is my command. Love each other, just as I have loved you. |
