Be a Raven, by Emily Owen

(Text: Get booster jabs to save Christmas, PM tells over-40s)

According to a newspaper headline last week, I bear quite a heavy responsibility regarding Christmas.

As Christians, we know that Christmas doesn’t need to be saved by us: 

we are not responsible for doing that, over-40 or not. 

Rather, Christmas is about a Saviour (am I the first to get Christmas into the blog this year?!).

Perhaps, when we are bogged down with deadlines, and words that don’t come, 

we can forget that the responsibility for them does not rest entirely with us.

First and foremost, there is God. Always God. God who said, in Exodus 19:4:

I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

Then there are people God sends our way to help.

I recently passed what I had expected to be quite a difficult weekend. It marked 21 years since I lost my hearing and somehow, despite me not being great with numbers, dates like that stick in my mind.

However, this year was conspicuous for its lack of difficulty. Yes, it had its moments, but in the main, it was fine.

Because of God? Yes.

Because of me? No.

Because of other people? Yes.

Friends and family spent time with me, and gave me a lovely weekend, in person and via messaging.

Some knew it was a memory-full weekend for me, some didn’t. Yet all were there, drawing alongside me.

Elijah, in the book of 1 Kings, ends up hiding. 

He’s all alone.

Perhaps as writers we sometimes want to go into hiding: we think our work is terrible, what’s the point, we feel as though we are going it alone.

God sent food-bringing ravens to Elijah, to sustain him, and he realised things weren’t quite so bad.

Fed by ravens sent by God.

God sent ‘ravens’ to me that memory-full weekend, to sustain me and show me that things weren’t so bad.

Fed by ravens sent by God.

What about ravens God sends us as writers? People to draw alongside us (fellow ACWers, for a start). Editors, publishers, people to discuss with, other brains to pick, proof-readers, chocolate-buyers, shoulders to cry on, people to rejoice with….

I imagine we can all think of a raven or two God has sent our way.

My first picture book will shortly be published, and I added some new ravens to my team. One is the illustrator (I am in awe of illustrators!). One is the son of the proof-reader. Apparently, he read the book and suggested that, really, a different word would be better than one I’d used. And you know what? He was right.

Fed by ravens sent by God.

I’ve just looked up the collective noun for raven, and was given a few options, one of which is a constable of ravens:

'...any time a grouping of these birds seems to be watching or guarding something, the group can be referred as a 'constable'.

Just as God, and ACW members, and other ravens in our lives, watch out for us.

Another option was my favourite: a *kindness of ravens. 

Fed by ravens sent by God.

All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.

(1 Corinthians 12:27))

*I think the website must have had a typo, as it actually said ‘unkindness of ravens’. I’m delighted to be able to rectify that error….