Episode 9: The Beaver's Lesson

In this episode, the beaver learns humility and responsibility.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:47

Welcome to Spirit Stories, a spirit-driven podcast where the songs, teachings, poems, and stories of spirits are shared with the world. I'm your host, Diana. Thank you for opening your hearts to what spirits have to say. This story is about how a beaver learned responsibility.

SPEAKER_02 1:21

This story takes place in a time in our world where each and every individual understood that they had a sacred responsibility to care for one another. At this time there was no currency, for there was no need for currency. Each person felt an obligation, a commitment even, to care for the community that they dwelled within. Each person looked for a way to contribute with their own gifts. If someone was hungry, they were fed. If someone was sick, medicine was provided. Medicine was allowed to be taken without repercussion. If someone did not have a place to live, shelter was provided, and each and every single person was expected to help meet the needs of another without asking for anything in return. In this community, the beaver had a very particular job. He was responsible for building dams. The dams that he would build would divert the water from a stream and to ponds, retention ponds, if you will, and in those ponds there would be an abundant of fish to live. That abundant pool of fish was the very pool that others, like the mountain lions or the wolves, or even the bear, would come and fish for themselves so that they could have food to eat. So the beaver's job was quite important, you see. And he did his job faithfully, collecting the sticks day in, day out, gnawing on them to get to the right size, then laying them precisely to allow for the correct diversion of water, not too much, and not too little to create these pools for abundant fish for all. As I said, there were many who would go to the pond and grab a fish for dinner or two. One of them in particular was the bear. And the bear's responsibility to his community was to protect the forest in general and the community from both within and without. This meant that the bear was a great wisdom keeper, helping to keep the peace within the community and also between communities or those who were apart from that particular community. The bear would regularly make patrols along the edge of the forest. He would come through, he would observe the rest of the community, he would mitigate disputes, and in general kept the peace. The bear was so good at his job that it might appear to someone else as if he didn't do very much at all. In fact, the beaver was someone who would watch the bear quite closely. And he noticed that the community was a very peaceful community. Why did they need the bear in the first place? All the bear did was come and actually just take fish from his pond and move along. The bear seemed to have done nothing in the beaver's eyes. He could not appreciate what was going on. And so the beaver watched day in and day out as the bear came through and took fish regularly and ate it without giving anything in return. Or so the beaver thought. And the beaver watched and grew resentful and angry. Why does the bear get to do this? Why is he allowed to not do anything and take and take and take? And the beaver began to grow jealous. And he started to monitor his pond and pace around it. And when someone would come to fish like they always had before, he would shoe them away. No, no, not my pond. Go away. You must contribute, you must bring me something. Leave now. And he would shoe away people after people from the mountain lion to the wolf to the coyote. And the mountain lion and the coyotes and the wolves grew quite unhappy. And they approached the bear, explaining what had been going on, that they were not allowed to fish any longer, and that they would starve if they had not. In his great wisdom, the bear had decided to approach the beaver. He joined the beaver at his home in the dam and began to talk to the beaver. And the beaver was quite upset. Why do people come in and take the fish and leave nothing in return? I toil all day long every day to make sure that the dam is up and that the water is diverted, and I get nothing for it. No thank yous, nothing. Just people coming and take, take, take. And the bear listened, and he heard what was within the beaver's heart. He heard the jealousy, he heard the anger, he heard the resentment. And the wise bear recognized that the beaver did not understand the magnitude of everyone's contribution to the community. And the beaver continued on, saying that it was even the bear himself would come in and take the fish and offer nothing in return. And the bear in his wisdom did not take offense. No, he looked upon the beaver with little sadness, realizing that the beaver did not appreciate that which was around him, realizing that the beaver's heart was all about himself and what he wanted and only what he wanted. So the bear invited the beaver to join him, to see exactly what the bear does day in and day out. And the beaver declined. He was uninterested in learning what the bear did. He was more interested in sitting with his resentment, for it had festered and become a living thing within him, and he was a little bit afraid of who he might become without it. So instead he would prefer to nurse that anger and resentment as opposed to changing his perspective. The be the bear accepted this answer for that day. And the bear returned the next day, making the offer again to the beaver, who refused, nursing his pride. So the bear waited, and he returned every single day, gently asking if the beaver would join him. And finally, frustrated, annoyed with the constant asking, the beaver said, Sure I will come. So he grudgingly joined the bear as the bear made his rounds towards the edge of the forest. On the way towards the edge, the beaver witnessed as an argument came out among the coyotes and the mountain lions about an area of territory that overlapped. He watched as the bear in his great wisdom listened and waited, as the bear offered alternate perspectives, as the bear was the mediator between these two peoples. He witnessed as the bear helped them come to a mutual conclusion where they could share an overlapping portion of their territories. He then witnessed, walking slowly behind the bear as they went to the edge of the forest, thinking to himself that perhaps the bear did more than he realized. Perhaps being a wisdom keeper had more to it than he had previously thought. It seemed to be a difficult and sometimes thankless job. And as he contemplated those things, traveling behind the bear, they had reached the very edge of the forest where he and the bear waited and waited and waited. And time passed and the day grew, and the beaver started to think that the bear just sat at the forest edge doing nothing, just looking out into the bushes and the distance. What what kind of work is this? This is an easy job. The beaver could do this. He was capable of looking. And he started to grow a little resentment, thinking that the job of the bear is so easy. Despite witnessing the early interaction and mediation that the bear had done, it was easily forgotten for the beaver as he looked at this moment and felt that the bear was lazy. Suddenly there was a flash of dark movement among the bushes. Yeah, he hadn't imagined that. It was it was huge and it was dark, and the bear saw it too. He gestured for the beaver to remain silent. And the beaver saw that there was more than one large thing out there, dark, and he couldn't make out exactly what it was, and it was frightening. And he was overcome with fear, paralyzed, and yet his body trembled all over. And he wanted to run, and he started to look for ways to get out of the situation. And the bear shook his head not to move, gestured not to speak. But the beaver was so overcome with fear and paranoia that he was ready to run. At a moment's notice, it was time to go. He had to find a place to leave. He had to now. And the bear, in his great wisdom, took a great paw and placed it firmly on the magnificent tail of the beaver, holding the beaver in place while the beaver was frightened and thinking to run away. And in those moments, the bear let loose the greatest war cry the beaver had ever seen. It was a roar that was louder than the loudest waterfall he had ever heard. It struck fear in the heart of the beaver, quelling any doubt, and the large, shadowy movement stilled, and then quickly receded as they left. And the beaver, there were tears storming down his face, and he trembled and he trembled. Even though he was safe now from the large things that were on the other side of the edge of the forest, he still felt deep down the remnants of that roar. And following his fear, as he began to calm down, a great sense of shame began to overcome the beaver, as he realized he had been judging the bear. He had judged the bear lazy. He had judged that the bear's job was easy. He had minimized what the bear and subsequently what other people of the community were doing. All because he felt that they had been taking advantage of him. All because they were gathering fish that he had collected because of the dam that would reroute the water. And as he followed behind the bear, he noticed that his tail was really flat. It would not plump back up again. And he understood that this flattened tail would now be a permanent feature in his life, a reminder of what it was to be when a being thinks of themselves before the rest of the community. When a being chooses their resentment instead of their responsibility and their contribution to the community. Yes, that flattened tail would remind him that he was to contribute to the community, that he was not above anyone. So he returned to his dam. He continued to divert the water. He became the most generous beaver. Never questioning the needs of another. He did not want anyone to go hungry. He helped the sick.

SPEAKER_01 19:11

If you are driving or working heavy machinery, please stop the recording now. Otherwise, I invite you to take a moment and breathe and sit with the story that these spirits have to share. And what the story brought up for you.