Whenever autumn is upon us,
And Samhain and Halloween are right around the corner,
We'll soon see scarecrows popping up all over the place,
Mostly as decorations.
The modern scarecrow,
As we now know it,
Actually began in the Middle Ages,
In Britain and Europe,
Where people would employ children to run around in the fields and make noises that would frighten birds away from their crops.
Soon thereafter,
The plague made this idea less of an option,
So people created human-like figures with large tree branches and dressed them with stuffed clothing to make what amounted to oversized jack-o'-lanterns.
One of my favorite images at this time of year are paintings or drawings of a scarecrow in a field,
With one or more crows sitting on top of it,
Seemingly completely unbothered by the scarecrow,
And not getting the message at all.
The reason I enjoy these images so much is because there is a message to them,
Which is overcoming fear.
Whether by design or happenstance,
All of us encounter many things that get dressed up or become built up to scare us.
But the crow in these images has figured everything out.
He might have been afraid of the scarecrow at first,
But he quickly realized that it is nothing more than an illusion.
The crow doesn't even seem to be annoyed by it,
Much less fear it.
Instead,
He's sitting on his adversary's shoulder and taking in the sun.
Probably right after enjoying a good lunch in the surrounding field.
There is a lesson for all of us in this.
Whenever we encounter something that causes us to be fearful,
We are wise to ask two questions.
Is this scarecrow truly something that should upset or worry me?
And,
How would I be behaving right now had I never seen it?
Then consider that whatever is making you fearful might indeed be very much like a scarecrow,
In that it is standing alone in a field,
With no protection and no allies.
Hear that again.
Whatever is making you fearful is standing alone,
With no allies.
It is often fabricated and completely powerless.
So,
Instead of being afraid of it,
Use it to elevate yourself by sitting on one of its shoulders so that you will have a clear view of everything right after you've enjoyed your lunch from the surrounding field.
The crow flies from me to thee to send the message,
Blessed Be.
