Celebrate Native American Heritage Day in the United States!

Spiritual resource to share: our heritage

“For the first time, federal legislation has set aside the day after Thanksgiving — for this year only — to honor the contributions American Indians have made to the United States.”

This is the first year that National Heritage Day is being celebrated, having been passed into legislation by Congress and signed into existence by President Bush only one month ago. Although controversial, it brings out important points about what we honor and how we honor one another – specifically those tribes who first lived off this land that many of us call home now. It is purposely set for the day after Thanksgiving.

What I am honoring today is the noble and unselfish act of the Wampanoag Indians who kept the pilgrims from starving that first winter in 1621 – this act being referred to as our first Thanksgiving. Their ability to cross cultures, help at a basic humanitarian level, care for feed and teach a foreign group how to survive in an alien environment – is something we can work to achieve as our legacy to the world. It is a heritage to be proud of.

I am also honoring the work being done in my community. I’ve had occasion to participate in many community meetings about healing a divide that has come between the whites and the native tribes in my area. The call to understand one another has been made and a number of efforts have been underway – Ojibwe is taught at the high school, community groups have been educated about tribal customs, a church put on a workshop and talk about white privilege that was attended by an uncommonly large and diverse group, and much more.

I am also honoring a lesson learned about God and mankind. “Anishinaabe” is a word I learned that means “first or original peoples.” A tribal elder explained that in essence, we are all first people. I reasoned that we are all direct descendents from God. Diving below the surface of culture, traditions, history and character, we come to the purely primitive spirituality of who we all are: direct expressions of one God.

Looking at the world, we can claim our native heritage to Truth, to Love and to Life – all of which defines God. From the student at Oxford, to the hostage in Bombay, to the Ojibwe teacher in rural Wisconsin, to the grandparent in Buenos Aires – we share an amazing heritage under one God – from whom we are all directly connected.

This fundamental truth of our common heritage impelled the Wampanoag Indians to help another people to survive and thrive. It is the same fundamental truth that impels us all to prove our heritage and pray for one another, heal one another, and help one another. The outcome of this? Mary Baker Eddy explains it in terms most broad and practical:

One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, "Love thy neighbor as thyself;" annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed.

photo copyrighted by swisshippo - Fotolia.com


To share your thoughts on this or to explore this idea further, please feel free to be in contact with me, add your own comments below, email this article to a friend, or add to the healing finds and sites on the web to the right.

weapons of mass distraction

Spiritual resource: our shared heritage

"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds."

Yesterday I had a serendipitous meeting in my favorite bookstore with Greg - owner, and Richard, another healer from the Anishinaabe tradition.

We talked about the recent community meeting that brought out the desires of so many people to understand and support each other. For all that happened at that meeting, the momentum to heal the hatred and prejudice in our communities and so help our children got a big boost that day.

I was glad to talk with Richard face to face. It was Richard's talk at that potentially divisive community meeting that turned the meeting around. He turned it around to see where the healing was coming from. It was coming from our willingness to step outside of our own comfort zone to connect with others and to keep connecting until we could see that there is no "other," no divisiveness.

Regardless of race, we all share a common heritage of respect and doing good for one another. This heritage goes far beyond one's heritage as an Ojibway, a white, a WASP, etc. It is spiritual. I see it as being from God.

With one Father, even God, the whole family of man would be brethren; and with one Mind and that God, or good, the brotherhood of man would consist of Love and Truth, and have unity of Principle and spiritual power which constitute divine Science.

We kept talking. What would distract us from moving forward? It is the anger, hatred, past hurts. As Richard said, if you bring these into the conversation, we don't go forward. These, Greg added, are the weapons of mass distraction. These weapons of anger, etc. try to derail progress, a natural response to loving motives and unselfish care.

In my own healing work, I rely on my growing understanding of the law of God that states good is not helpless, that God, good, is all powerful, and governs and guides us all. This law is self-enforcing, and so good is all that CAN go forward.

The belief that something else is more powerful, more threatening, more tenacious is a belief that is itself a distraction, not a reality. It is a distraction to what is true: God's law. Removing the distraction uncovers the attraction and operation of God's law.

But all this being said.....a healthy and progressive community is all about love. And love can pull down the strong holds of racism and hate and show that we all share a heritage of love. Coffee finished, connections made, heartfelt conclusions drawn, we said our goodbyes for now and went back into the cold sub-zero with a lingering warmth of soul.

To share your thoughts on this or to explore this idea further, please feel free to be in contact with me, add your own comments below, email this article to a friend, or add to the healing finds and sites on the web to the right.