Prayer of Gratitude
2002 Ruth Thunderhorse and ACQTC
There is a connectedness within the spirit of the Native American Indian / First Nations that few people understand. This connectedness is one which extends from the farthest reaches of the galaxies to the deepest reaches of the infinitesimal.
Our people knew the Great Mystery of the Creation in a way and to the depth of understanding that can never be achieved by a people with no remembered roots to the past, no real relationship to the land, and no consuming concern for every life form (animate or inanimate) within the universe.
A true First Nations’ spirit feels the earth’s pain, the tug of the moon, and the disturbances in the atmosphere or on the Sun’s surface, while he/she hears the voice of the Creator in the wind, in the song of the whippoorwill, in the rippling water, in the rumble of thunder, or in the music of the galaxies. He/she feels and hears because of this connectedness.
Born through countless millenia of living as an integral part of the total Creation, this connectedness gives a depth of spirituality and an understanding of the meaning and purpose of life that had no equal among those who live only to use and exploit the Creation, the land, the rocks, the atoms, the wildlife, the water, the air, the stars, and even each other for their own selfish ambitions.
The axioms of the predominant religions are, in many cases, counterproductive to true spirituality and relationship with God. One cannot “subdue” the Creation without subduing the power of the Creator. A power trip is totally counterproductive to true relationship or connectedness.
The religion I have been taught from childhood tends to gloss over the depth of connectedness, which its founder taught, in order to focus on the superficial and add an aura of religious fervor to a spiritually counterproductive way of life that focuses on materialism, greed, and selfish ambition.
Connectedness/relationship — this is what life is all about in the spiritual realm. First Nations had countless millennia of growth, understanding, and experience with intimate connectedness. They could not fathom the brutal ways of deceit, lying and exploitation brought by the European “discoverers” and homeless immigrants invading these continents. They were too far advanced in their spirituality for the European invaders to begin to understand. So the Europeans tried to destroy and eradicate what they could not understand — by means of a fierce, aggressive ethnic cleansing such as the earth had never known before or since. Hitler attempted to emulate it later, but fortunately, he was stopped before the percentage of the Jewish population destroyed became anything like as great as the percentage of the First Nations’ population lost.
Ethnic cleansing is not connectedness. Greed is not connectedness. Selfish ambition is not connectedness. Materialism is not connectedness. Possessiveness is not connectedness. Ambivalence is not connectedness. Lust for power and control is not connectedness. Prejudice is not connectedness. Pollution is not connectedness. Lying is not connectedness. Vengeance is not connectedness.
Connectedness is relationship. Connectedness is respect. Connectedness is understanding. Connectedness is giving. Connectedness is knowing you are a vital part of something bigger than yourself. Connectedness is listening. Connectedness is realizing that Creation is so beautiful that the Creator must also be beautiful.
Connectedness is having the courage to face one’s greatest enemy — one’s own self. Connectedness is acknowledging and accepting that each life form, each spirit, has value. Connectedness is the ability to seek the good in every situation. Connectedness is knowing that you are a part of something greater than yourself and that what you do really does make a difference.
Connectedness is the courage to stand up for what’s right and speak out against oppression. Connectedness is fighting injustice, even when you yourself are the one doing the injustice. Connectedness is combating the prejudice in your own heart. Connectedness is being at peace with yourself, with others, with the world around you, and with the Great Mystery.
Connectedness gives the power to rise above the mundane and to soar with the stars, thus to see the world from a new perspective which few people ever glimpse.
Connectedness gave our shamans the power to make the tents tremble or to know when the earthquake would come or to stand tall when the oppressors bullets struck down without mercy everything they loved.
Connectedness is learned over time and over a difficult trail, but it is worth the learning. We all can be connected once again. Connectedness is available to anyone willing to pay the price of being connected.
published in The Red Heart Warrior, Fall 2003
