While shooting sunrise with sweet Wohali, we watched as a couple of coyote playfully ran, slid, skidded and tippy toed across the ice from island to island. I have noticed coyote tracks many times, but this was the first time I had actually seen them.
Silently I watched coyote crossing Lake Erie, where the waters have recently turned to ice, and remembered the many stories I had been told. Coyote is an interesting teacher. It is very clever and can be playfully cunning. And it usually shows up to reflect the foolish ways of our heart back to us. Sometimes in our desire to avoid certain situations, the heart begins the process of tricking itself into believing what it wants to believe, rather than productively dealing with and working to resolve things as they actually are. Coyote comes to reveal the traps the heart sets for itself, so it will not be ensnared upon circumstances which could be best avoided. Coyote is a relentless messenger and will tease and taunt until its warning is heeded.
Like the coyote I observed, walking on ice can be a very risky thing ... but not as great as the risk of remaining frozen in unpleasant and bitter cricumstances which could be avoided, if we heed its wisdom and look closely and honestly into the heart. Coyote is a highly adaptable animal and teaches us the need to be the same. It encourages us to playfully, yet warily progress forward. It leads us to places that are nonthreatening, so we can recover and rebound from previous setbacks.
Coyote is loyal and devoted and I have read how it will go to extremes to defend and protect its own. It teaches us the need to do the same. It shows us the importance of working together for the good of all. It allows us to see within our own hearts, steering clear of deception and snares, and like the coyote, RUN!
