A voice in the wilderness

"A voice cries out, “In the wilderness clear a way for the Lord; construct in the desert a road for our God." Isaiah 40:3 

In the wilderness there is no one who can hear you, in the phrase "the voice of one crying in the wilderness" there is no one who will listen. John the Baptist is the person referred to here, and he complains that, although he is preaching of the coming of the Lord, no one (or few) will pay attention. It is the same today in the 21st century concerning the second coming of the Lord.

Where Fairies Fear to Tread

"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king." 

- the Fellowship of the Ring

by JRR Tolkien

This Kind of Love

You speak to me through a broken window
You are alive in an old oak tree
You hold me close when the winter wind blows
I hear your footsteps on the street

I feel your prsence in the early mornin'
I dream of you in the darkest nite
You call to me without a warning
I see your face in the fires lite

This kind of love you cannot hold
This kind of love it has no shame
This kind of love is never old
This kind of love you cannot hold
This kind of love you cannot tame

You found a way through all my secrets
And made my proud defences fall
This kind of love it has no distance
This kind of love it knows no walls

This kind of love you cannot hold
This kind of love it has no shame
This kind of love is never old
This kind of love you cannot hold

This kind of love you cannot tame

This kind of love is without blame

by Bill Miller

Ronnie Johnson Band Rocks

RJBand, Just like butter, Momma always said "the cream always rises to the top!" - SenecaWolf

Praise in the Midst of Trouble

"Let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually" - Heb.13:15

A city missionary, stumbling through the dirt of a dark foyer, heard a voice say, "Who's there, Honey?" Striking a match, he caught a vision of earthly want and suffering, of saintly trust and peace, "cut in ebony" - calm, appealing eyes set amid the wrinkles of a pinched, black face that lay on a tattered bed. It was a bitter cold night in February, and she had no fire, no fuel, no light. She had had no supper, no dinner, no breakfast. She seemed to have nothing at all but rheumatism and faith in God. One could not well be more completely exiled from all pleasantness of circumstances, yet the favorite song of this old creature rung:

"Nobody knows de trouble I see,
Nobody knows but Jesus;
Nobody knows de trouble I see--
Sing Glory Hallelujah!

"Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down,
Sometimes I'm level on the groun',
Sometimes the glory shines aroun'
Sing Glory Hallelujah!"

And so it went on: 

"Nobody knows de work I does, Nobody knows de griefs I
has," the constant refrain being the "Glory Hallelujah!" 

until the last verse rose:

"Nobody knows de joys I has,
Nobody knows but Jesus!"
 

Troubled on every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed. It takes the good book to tell the cheer of that old black gospel song.
Remember Martin Luther on his sick-bed. Between his groans he managed to preach on these wise words: 

"These pains and trouble here are like the type which the printers set; as they look now, we have to read them backwards, and they
seem to have no sense or meaning in them; but up yonder, when the Lord God prints us off in the life to come, we shall find they make brave reading."
 

Only we do not need to wait till then. Remember Paul the apostle walking the hurricane deck amid a boiling sea, bidding the frightened crew "Be of good cheer," Martin Luther, the old black spiritual - all of them human sun-flowers.  -Wm. G. Garnett

To Be Human

We are human beings. It is time for us to recognize that we are human beings.

As human beings, we have intelligence and it is through this intelligence that we manifest our power.

As human beings, how we use our intelligence to perceive reality dictates how we will use the power of our intelligence.

As human beings, we have a responsibility to use the power of our intelligence clearly and coherently.

As human beings, we find ourselves in a dimensional reality where we feel powerless to deal with the various situations we find ourselves in.

As human beings, it is time to take responsibility for the power of our intelligence and use the power of our intelligence to think clearly and coherently and create solutions to the problems we are confronted with.

Simply put, as human beings, we are asking that human beings think.

Give Love Give Life 

Lewis Bennett (Deerfoot) (1828-1897)

Athlete

A member of the Snipe Clan of the Seneca Indians, Lewis Bennett showed extraordinary capacities as a long-distance runner in his youth. In fact, on the Cattaraugus Reservation in New York State, where he perfected his skills under his nation's traditional system of physical training, his speed and endurance gave rise to the legend that a horse had died of exhaustion after being outpaced by him for some thirty or forty miles. By the mid-1850s, Bennett was running professionally, and in 1861 he went to England to compete with the best runners in the British Isles. He lost his first contest there, but was soon winning on a regular basis and finding himself lionized in sporting circles. In the spring of 1863, his times for ten-to twelve-mile runs set new records that lasted well into the twentieth century. This photograph was taken in England at the height of Bennetts' fame there. As this picture indicates, Bennett reveled in reminding his English fans of his Indian origins, and he ran his races clad in wolf skin and a feathered headband. He is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, NY next to the grave of the Seneca orator Red Jacket. For generations, Native Americans have taken pride in running and in being fleet of feet. The Song of Hiawatha, attributed to the 19th century American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, described these traits:

Out of childhood into manhood,

Now had grown my Hiawatha,

Skilled in the craft of hunters,

Learned in all the lore of old men.

In all youthful sports and pastimes,

In all manly arts and labors,

Swift of foot was Hiawatha.

He could shoot an arrow from him,

And run forward with such fleetness,

That the arrow fell behind him.

My brother Ric & I on June 21, 2010

See the Woman

 

She has a young face
An old face
She carries herself well
In all ages
She survives all man has done

In some tribes she is free
In some religions
She is under man
In some societies
She’s worth what she consumes

In some nations
She is delicate strength
In some states
She is told she is weak
In some classes
She is property owned

In all instances
She is sister to earth
In all conditions
She is life bringer
In all life she is our necessity

See the woman eyes
Flowers swaying
On scattered hills
Sundancing calling in the bees

See the woman heart
Lavender butterflies
Fronting blue sky
Misty rain falling
On soft wild roses

See the woman beauty
Lightning streaking
Dark summer nights
Forests of pines mating
With new winter snow

See the woman spirit
Daily serving courage
With laughter
Her breath a dream
And a prayer

by John Trudell

Grand Canyon of the East

 
This ancient Seneca Council House stood at Ga-o-ya-de-a 'Where the Heavens Rest Upon the Earth' on the Genesee River in days antedating the American Revolution. In it gathered the war parties 'that fought in the defense of their country.' Before it prisoners ran the gauntlet. Around its council fires sat famous warriors and chiefs. It was rededicated Oct. 1, 1872 by the last Indian Council of the Genesee."

"Brothers: I will say a few words. We have come here as representatives of the Seneca Nation to participate in the ceremonies of the day. In this ancient Council House, before its removal to this spot, our fathers, sachems and chiefs, often met to deliberate on matters of the moment to our people in the Village of Ga-o-yah-de-o 'Caneadea'. We are here to rake over the ashes of its hearth, that we may find perchance a single spark with which to rekindle the fire, and cause the smoke again to rise above this roof, as in days that are past. The smoke is curling upward and the memories of the past are enwreathed with it.

Brothers: When the Confederacy of the Iroquois was formed, a smoke was raised which ascended so high that all the nations saw it and trembled. This League was formed, it may be, long before the Kingdom of Great Britain had any political existence. Our fathers of the Ho-de-no-sau-nee were once a powerful nation. They lorded it over a vast territory, comprising the whole of the State of New York. Their power was felt from the Hudson to the banks of the Mississippi, and from the great basins of sweet water in the north to the bitter waters of the Mexican Gulf. We have wasted away to a remnant of what we once were. But, though feeble in numbers, the Iroquois are represented here. We have delegates from the Mohawks, who were the Keepers of the Eastern Door of the Long House; and the Senecas, who were the guardians of the Western Door. When the big guns of General Sullivan were heard in this valley, we were one people. But the tribes of the Iroquois are scattered, and will soon be seen no more.

Brothers: We are holding council, perhaps for the last time in Gen-nis-he-o. This beautiful territory was once our own. The bones of our fathers are strewn thickly under its sod. But all this land has gone from their grasp forever. The fate and the sorrows of my people should force a sigh from the stoutest heart.

Brothers: We came here to perform a ceremony, but I cannot make it such. My heart says that this is not a play or a pageant. It is a solemn reality to me, and a mockery of days that are past and can never return. Neh-hoh, that is all."

Continuing up the river from this ancient council house the warriors passed many ancient fort and village sites of the old Iroquois. They visited the site of the Seneca Village called, Ga-o-ya-de-a 'Where the Heavens Rest Upon the Earth'. On a stone monument marking the site was the inscription: "Here in 1782 Major Moses Van Campers, a soldier of the Revolution captured by the Senecas, Keeper of the Western Door of the Iroquois Confederacy, ran the gauntlet thirty rods west to their ancient Council House, which is now preserved in Letchworth Park. This boulder was placed by the Catherine Schuyler Chapter N. S. D. A. R. 1908."

From this ancient village site the warriors headed north-east over the hills to the City of Batavia where they were once again on the main Iroquois Trail. Not far from there they headed north, their destination, the Tonawanda Seneca Reservation where they visited friends. At Tonawanda they saw a marker that was erected near the site of the Homestead of Ely Parker. The inscription on this marker was: " Homestead of Ely Parker, Secretary to General Grant, born in 1823, died 1895 - Sachem of the Wolf Clan - Seneca title, Do-no-ho-ga-wa."

 

At this council Ga-yeh-twa-geh 'Nicholson Parker' gave the opening address on the 1st of October 1872

My Great Great Uncle Eli

A son will be born to you who will be distinguished among his nation as a peacemaker, he will become a white man as well as an Indian. He will be a wise white man, but will never desert his Indian people. His name will reach from the east to the west, the north to the south. His sun will rise on Indian land and set on white man's land. Yet the ancient land of his ancestors

Notice General Eli Parker(Seneca, Wolf clan) behind General Grant.

The Sacred Tree

To the center of the world you have taken me and showed the goodness and the beauty and the strangeness of the greening earth, the only mother — and there the spirit shapes of things, as they should be, you have shown to me and I have seen. At the center of this sacred hoop, you have said that I should make the tree to bloom.
With tears running, O Great Spirit , Great Spirit, my Grandfather — with running tears I must say now that the tree has never bloomed. A pitiful old man, you see me here, and I have fallen away and have done nothing. Here at the center of the world, where you took me when I was young and taught me; here, old, I stand, and the tree is withered, Grandfather, my Grandfather!
Again, and maybe the last time on this earth, I recall the great vision you sent me. It may be that some little root of the sacred tree still lives. Nourish it then, that it may leaf and bloom and fill with singing birds. Hear me, not for myself, but for my people; I am old. Hear me that they may once more go back into the sacred hoop and find the good red road, the shielding tree! - Black Elk Speaks

Wasi'chu

"My name is Wasichu. I know thee, I have found thee, & I will not let thee go."
0949 est, October 11, 2004
Barnard, Vermont

The first people who lived on the northern plains of what today is the United States called themselves "Lakota," meaning "the people," a word which provides the semantic basis for Dakota. The first European people to meet the Lakota called them "Sioux," a contraction of Nadowessioux, a now-archaic French-Canadian word meaning "snake" or enemy.
The Lakota also used the metaphor to describe the newcomers. It was Wasi'chu, which means "takes the fat," or "greedy person." Within the modern Indian movement, Wasi'chu has come to mean those corporations and individuals, with their governmental accomplices, which continue to covet Indian lives, land, and resources for private profit.
Wasi'chu does not describe a race; it describes a state of mind.
Wasi'chu is also a human condition based on inhumanity, racism, and exploitation. It is a sickness, a seemingly incurable and contagious disease which begot the ever advancing society of the West. If we do not control it, this disease will surely be the basis for what may be the last of the continuing wars against the Native American people.

...excerpt from Wasi'chu, The Continuing Indian Wars,
Bruce Johansen and Robert Maestas
with an introduction by John Redhouse

From a Mined Mind

"Technologic religious system programs the mind how to perceive reality. I think they are mining our minds, it is a process.

As human beings our DNA, bones, flesh, and blood are made up of the metals, minerals, and liquids of the earth. That is human. 

Then we have Being, the sun, sky, and universe. Literally, sun light brings the life that we take this earth form, but our being comes from sun, sky, universe. 

All things of this earth are made up of the same DNA as us, just the form is different. All things of the earth have the same relation to the sun, sky, universe.

Like with fossils, through the mining process we take out energy.  It's the same as how they imprint our perception of reality through the energy from the intelligence of human beings is how they run our system." 

- John Trudell

A Bison Ride

 

Our little party kept on the flank of the advancing drove, and our escort seemed to find it very irksome doing duty as guards, as with oft-repeated ughs! plainly expressive of disgust, they deprecated the luck that had been singled out to perform such womanly duty.Suddenly, and with kaleidoscopic rapidity, the aspect of affairs was changed; for some unknown reason and without apparent cause, the buffaloes made a flank movement, and in a twinkling were dashing right toward us; the mustangs, warned by experience, turned and ran as if their lives were at stake, as they certainly were; and the mule on which my wife was mounted, with an imitation that did her great credit, followed their example.'My horse, being unused to such scenes, seemed to lose his senses, and stood looking at the advancing animals in the most abject terror. Realizing at a glance my position, and feeling that instant action was demanded, I turned his head, and by word and heel urged him to run. On came these black brutes, sweeping over the ground like an animated hurricane. My poor horse was laboring fearfully, and I knew that our destruction was a matter of a few moments time only. Suddenly my horse stumbled and flung me headlong to the ground, then all was bewilderment. I have an indistinct notion of lying on the prairie, and then like a great black wave, this surging mass of buffaloes seem to hover over me; I was conscious of sharp and severe pain in my side, and then of being suddenly lifted into space. When sufficiently collected to note my position, I found myself on the back of a huge buffalo bull, who, unaccustomed to this strange weight, was making frantic endeavors to clear himself of the herd, which were wedged together with as much-compactness as if they were one animal. If I had chosen to fall to the ground, it would have been impossible to do so; but as such a feat would have been almost instant death, my readers will easily understand I had no intention of trying the experiment. I turned my attention exclusively to seating myself firmly on my novel steed, and grasping my hands into the shaggy hair which covered his shoulders, braced myself for the most thrilling ride I had ever experienced. After a few violent plunges the bull cleared the herd, and tore at tremendous speed; on, on until objects lost their character, and all seemed to be an indistinct haze. The buffalo had by. this time carried me some distance from the main body, and was be ginning to show signs of fatigue. If I was going to leave him, this was my opportunity; and quietly loosening my hold, I slipped off his rump on to the ground, and betook myself in an opposite direction as fast as I could go, and it was with feelings of relief and thankfulness that I had escaped so luckily from my first and only buffalo ride. - Seven & Nine Years Living Among the Camanches & Apaches an Autobiography by Edwin Eastman,

I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me

 

Proverbs belongs to that segment of the Old Testament designated as
"wisdom literature." Such proverbial
teaching represents one of the most ancient forms of instruction. The
wisdom literature of Israel was the chief storehouse of moral and
practical instruction for the Jews. It guided the head of state as well as
the head
of the home. It embodied the difference between right and wrong,
righteousness and unrighteousness. But most of
all, Israel 's wisdom literature taught the Jews how to live before
Jehovah. It contrasted the wisdom of the world, a wisdom of possessions,
with the wisdom of God, a wisdom of piety.

Proverbs teaches us that all who would live godly must seek the wisdom of
God and forsake the wisdom of the
world. To seek divine wisdom, therefore, is to seek to know God better and
to possess less. Wisdom is God; and
speaking as wisdom, God says, "I love them that love me; and those that
seek me early shall find me" (Proverbs
8:17). God is to be sought early in life and early in each day of life.
When we show Him we love Him in this way, He shows us He loves us by
filling our day with His wisdom.

Seeking the wisdom of God and the God of wisdom does not necessarily mean
we will be paupers on this earth. God
says, "Riches and honor are with me; yea durable riches and righteousness.
My fruit is better than gold, yea than
fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver" (Proverbs 8:18-19). The
revenue paid by seeking this world's wealth
is temporal gain and a frequent deterrent to godliness.
The revenue gained by seeking divine wisdom is eternal gain and an
everlasting aid to godliness. Therefore, the truly wise person in this
world will seek God's wisdom instead of the world's wealth. But should God
allow us to
have both, our attitude toward our possessions will be, "Every man to whom
God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof,
and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of

God" (Ecclesiastes 5:19).

An English nobleman once visited Josiah Wedgwood to see how he made his
legendary china and pottery. A young
apprentice was instructed to give the nobleman a tour of the factory. The
nobleman didn't believe in God and was
sacrilegious and  foul-mouthed, and he consistently ridiculed the Bible
during the tour. At first the young apprentice was shocked, but after
awhile he began to laugh when the man made his cynical remarks. Josiah
Wedgwood was greatly disturbed by this, especially when
he saw how his young apprentice was being influenced by this wealthy
nobleman. Later the atheist asked if he
could purchase a particularly expensive vase. As he handed it to the
nobleman, Wedgwood deliberately let it
crash to the floor. With a vile oath the nobleman angrily said, "That's
the one I really wanted and now it's shattered by your carelessness."
Josiah Wedgwood replied, "Sir, there are things more precious than any
vase
things that can never be restored once they are ruined. I can make another
vase, but you can never give back to my helper the pure heart you've
defiled by your vile language and sacrilegious talk!"

The nobleman was an example of a man who did not seek the Lord early but
sought riches all the day. Josiah
Wedgwood is a fine example of a man who early sought the Lord and
recognized that his wealth was a gift from God.
God never intended that we should not have riches; He only intended that
riches should not have us. It is
vitally important for Christians who possess wealth not to be possessed by
it. Seek the wisdom of the Lord early
in the day, before earning the wealth of the world. Then use that wealth
in a way which will bring eternal reward.

- Woodrow Kroll
MORNING HYMN
I take, O cross, thy shadow
For my abiding place
I ask no other sunshine than
The sunshine of His face
Content to let the world go by,
To know no gain nor loss,
My sinful self my only shame,
My glory all the cross.

 

One Nation Under God

This we know; the earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family.

Even the white man, whose God walks and talks with him as friend to friend, cannot be exempt from the common destiny. We may be brothers after all. We shall see. One thing we know which the white man may one day discover; our God is the same God.

You may think now that you own Him as you wish to own our land; but you cannot. He is the God of man, and His compassion is equal for the red man and the white. The earth is precious to Him, and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its creator. The whites too shall pass; perhaps sooner than all other tribes. Contaminate your bed and you will one night suffocate in your own waste.

But in your perishing you will shine brightly fired by the strength of the God who brought you to this land and for some special purpose gave you dominion over this land and over the red man.

That destiny is a mystery to us, for we do not understand when the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses are tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with the scent of many men and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires.

Where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the eagle? Gone.

                                       The end of living and the beginning of survival.

- Chief Seattle

On Being Human

I was born in Nature's wide domain ! The trees were all that sheltered my infant limbs, the blue heavens all that covered me. I am one of Nature's children. I have always admired her. She shall be my glory: her features, her robes, and the wreath about her brow, the seasons, her stately oaks, and the evergreen - her hair, ringlets of earth - all contribute to my enduring love of her.

And wherever I see her, emotions of pleasure roll in my breast, and swell and burst like waves on the shores of the ocean, in prayer and praise to Him who has placed me in her hand, It is thought great to be born in palaces, surrounded with wealth - but to be born in Nature's wide domain is greater still !

I would much more glory in this birthplace, with the broad canopy of heaven above me, and the giant arms of the forest trees for my shelter, than to be born in palaces of marble, studded with pillars of gold ! Nature will be Nature still, while palaces shall decay and fall in ruins.

Yes, Niagara will be Niagara a thousand years hence ! The rainbow, a wreath over her brow, shall continue as long as the sun, and the flowering of the river - while the work of art, however carefully protected and preserved, shall fade and crumble into dust !

- George Copway (Kahgegagahbowh) - Ojibwe

The Pearl of Great Price

 

Long before I ever heard of Christ, or saw a white man, I had learned from an untutored woman the essence of morality. With the help of dear Nature herself, she taught me things simple but of mighty import. I knew God. I perceived what goodness is. I saw and loved what is really beautiful. Civilization has not taught me anything better!

As a child, I understood how to give; I have forgotten that grace since I became civilized. I lived the natural life, whereas I now live the artificial. Any pretty pebble was valuable to me then; every growing tree an object of reverence. Now I worship with the white man before a painted landscape whose value is estimated in dollars! Thus the Indian is reconstructed, as the natural rocks are ground to powder, and made into artificial blocks which may be built into the walls of modern society. 

- Charles A Eastman(Ohiyesa), Santee Sioux, 1858-1939

North America, where did you go wrong?

"How long have I known you, oh Canada? A hundred years? Yes, a hundred years. And many many 'seelanum" more. And today, when you celebrate your hundred years, oh Canada, I am sad for all the Indian people throughout the land.
For I have known you when your forests were mine; when they gave me my meat and my clothing. I have known you in your streams and rivers where your fish flashed and danced in the sun, where the waters said come, come and eat of my abundance. I have known you in the freedom of your winds. And my spirit, like the winds, once roamed your good lands.
But in the long hundred years since the white man came, I have seen my freedom disappear like the salmon going mysteriously out to sea. The white man's strange customs which I could not understand, pressed down upon me until I could no longer breathe.
When I fought to protect my land and my home, I was called a savage. When I neither understood nor welcomed this way of life, I was called lazy. When I tried to rule my people, I was stripped of my authority.
My nation was ignored in your history textbooks - they were little more important in the history of Canada than the buffalo that ranged the plains. I was ridiculed in your plays and motion pictures, when I drank your fire water, I got drunk -- very, very drunk. And I forgot.
Oh Canada, how can I celebrate with you this Centenary, this hundred years? Shall I thank you for the reserves that are left to me of my beautiful forests? For the canned fish of my rivers? For the loss of my pride and authority, even among my own people? For the lack of my will to fight back? No! I must forget what's past and gone.
Oh, God in Heaven! Give me back the courage of the olden Chiefs. Let me wrestle with my surroundings. Let me again, as in the days of old, dominate my environment. Let me humbly accept this new culture and through it rise up and go on.
Oh, God! Like the Thunderbird of old I shall rise again out of the sea; I shall grab the instruments of the white man's success---his education, his skills, and with these new tools I shall build my race into the proudest segment of your society. Before I follow the great Chiefs who have gone before us, oh Canada, I shall see these things come to pass.
I shall see our young braves and our chiefs sitting in the houses of law and government, ruling and being ruled by the knowledge and freedom of our great land. So shall we shatter the barriers of our isolation. So shall the next hundred years be the greatest and proudest in the proud history of our tribes and nations."
Chief Dan George