Wornout Fences

"

  "Wornout Fences" Sitting Bull and his comrades called the place where they went to trade with the Wasichus - the white men. Fort Pierre Chouteau had stood on the west bank of the Missouri River three miles above the mouth of the Bad River since 1832, and its rotting palisade and rundown log buildings did indeed resemble wornout fences.

  The fort could defend itself if necessary. A protective stockade surrounded the interior, and corner bastions mounted cannon. The treeless river bottom extended westward for a mile or more before broken by bluffs gently rising to the plains, so no Indians could approach without detection. Usually, however, clusters of tipis carpeted the valley floor, sheltering Sioux who had come to trade rather than fight.

  Fort Pierre afforded the Hunkpapas and their Lakota and Yanktonai neighbors their principal window on the white world. Originally an outpost of the American Fur Company, it now operated under the rubric of Pierre Chouteau and Company, a loose partnership that had brought out the Astor empire's Western Department in 1834. From the first, the fort had served as the company's chief trading outlet for the Missouri River Lakotas.

There the Indians went to exchange buffalo robes for the trade goods that had become essential parts of the material aspect of their culture. - from The Lance and The Shield - The Life and Times of Sitting Bull by Robert M. Utley

If the Great Spirit has desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place. He put in your heart certain wishes and plans; in my heart he put other and different desires.

Each man is good in the sight of the Great Spirit. It is not necessary for eagles to be crows. Now we are poor but we are free. No white man controls our footsteps. If we must die, we die defending our rights.

Sitting Bull - Teton Sioux

Dark is the Night

"The Indian's night promises to be dark. No bright star hovers about the horizon. Sad-voiced winds moan in the distance. Some grim Nemesis of our race is on the red man's trail, and wherever he goes he will still hear the sure approaching footsteps of the fell destroyer and prepare to meet his doom, as does the wounded doe that hears the approaching footsteps of the hunter. A few more moons, a few more winters, and not one of all the mighty hosts that once filled this broad land or that now roam in fragmentary bands through these vast solitudes will remain to weep over the tombs of a people once as powerful and as hopeful as your own.
"But why should we repine? Why should I murmur at the fate of my people? Tribes are made up of individuals and are no better than they. Men come and go like the waves of the sea. A tear, a tamanawus, a dirge, and they are gone from our longing eyes forever. Even the white man, whose God walked and talked with him, as friend to friend, is not exempt from the common destiny. We may be brothers after all. We shall see. - Chief Seattle

The First Peace

The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells Wakan-Taka (the Great Spirit), and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.
This is the real peace, and the others are but reflections of this. The second peace is that which is made between two individuals, and the third is that which is made between two nations. But above all you should understand that there can never be peace between nations until there is known that true peace, which, as I have often said, is within the souls of men.
Black Elk - Oglala Sioux

The Cost of Money

 

 

 

How much did your money cost you?
Was the ladder of wealth hard to climb?
Did you stage some attacks,
Perhaps stab a few backs ~
Did it take all your effort, your time?

How much did your money cost you?
Was your home full of peace or unrest?
At the close of the day
Could you honestly say
That you'd given your family your best?

Did you have a nice home?
Did you drive a fine car?
Now you're six feet below ~
Will it get you that far?

How much did your money cost you?
Was that paycheck your only reward?
All those hours pulling strings
Just to buy you more things ~
But no time for the things of the Lord?

How much did your money cost you?
Did you look in the mirror with pride?
Or did greed run amuck
For that Almighty Buck
Till you pushed your own conscience aside?

Did it cost you your soul?
Did you dawdle in sin?
Now you're outside of Heav'n ~
Can you bribe your way in?

 

Oh, Satan appears as an angel
In guise of supporting one's own ~
If your god becomes cash,
Your life's gone in a flash,
And your time on this planet has flown.

Have the fanciest stone in the graveyard,
Have the prettiest casket they sell ~
If you never asked Jesus to save you,
Then you purchased your ticket to Hell.
Just a sure one-way ticket to Hell.

by Connie Hinnen Cook

"Keep your lives free from the love of money
and be content with what you have,
because God has said, Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you." (Heb. 13:5, NIV)

Go Carefully

Aya-angwa-a'mizin is drawn from the Algonquian language. Translated literally, it is usually read as " to go carefully" or "to read carefully."

But beyond this superficial meaning is the idea that the actions of persons have consequences for a larger whole. The term is used in a context that assumes the meaninglessness of existence and action, that we do not live in a "neutral" universe that exists beyond and outside ourselves. We are part of the universe.

All things are connected. - AUTHOR UNKNOWN

One of my favorite movies depicts the consequences of one's life lived in a selfish vs a sharing way. It's A Wonderful Life by Frank Capra starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, traditionally broadcast during the Christmas Holidays, reminds us of how one person's life can impact so many lives. As the angel Clarence says in the movie, "you've been given a wonderful gift".

Prayer for the Day

Prayer for the Day

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for the many things You have delivered me from. I am very grateful that I am free of those things that were destroying me. Father, help me to be patient with those around me that are struggling with their sins. Remind me to pray for them and help me not to talk about them in the wrong way. Lord, I do need Your counsel also, as I have many decisions to make and I do not want to make the wrong ones. Help me to recognize and appreciate godly advice that comes from others. I humble myself and ask that You lead me in all of Your ways. I pray for my brothers and sisters, as well. May we all submit to Your will in all things. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

The Hunters

There were but two beneath the sky -
The thing I came to kill, and I.
I, under covert, quietly
Watched him sense eternity
From quivering brush to pointed nose
My gun to shoulder level rose.
And then I felt (I could not see)
Far off a hunter watching me.
I slowly put me rifle by,
For there were two who had to die -
The thing I wished to kill, and I.

- UNKNOWN

My Heart Soars

The beauty of the trees, the softness of the air,
the fragrance of the grass speaks to me.
The summit of the mountain, the thunder of the sky,
The rhythm of the sea, speaks to me.
The faintness of the stars, the freshness of the morning,
the dewdrop on the flower, speaks to me.
The strength of the fire, the taste of salmon, the trail of the sun,
and the life that never goes away, they speak to me
And my heart soars.

- CHIEF DAN GEORGE, Tsleil-Waututh Nation, Coast Salish Band

Grandfather, Do You Know Me?

                                                     
                                         Grandfather, do you know me?

I am your blood.
The son of your son. I come to ask you a question Grandfather.
Grandfather, don't you know me? Can I stop being Indian now

There are others that want to be Indian,
And if they can start from nothing,
I should be able to stop from something?
Grandfather, don't you know me?
Grandfather, I don't look like you.
I don't know what you know.
It would be easy for me to hide behind my paler skin.
No one would know the pain I feel,
Or see the tears I cry for your Great Grandchildren.
Grandfather, don't you know me?
Grandfather, look what I have done to our world.
Mother Earth is on her knees.
The Snake and Owl rule the day.
I don't understand the language you speak Grandfather.
Grandfather, don't you know me?
Grandfather, I want my Pepsi, Levi's and Porsche too.
I want to go where the others go,
And see the things they see too.
I don't have time to dance in the old way Grandfather.
Grandfather?
Grandfather, why are you crying?
Grandfather, why are you crying?
Grandfather, please stop crying.

Grandfather, don't you know me?

- CHARLES PHILLIP WHITE, Ojibway

My Friend

My friend, I am going to tell you the story of my life, as you wish; and if it were the only the story of my life I think I would not tell it; for what is one man that he should make so much of his winters, even when they bend him like a heavy snow? So many other men have lived and shall live that story, to be grass upon the hills.

- BLACK ELK, OGLALA SIOUX, 1863-1950

Warmth of the Sun

 

My heart is filled with joy,

when I see you here,

as the brook fills with water

when the snow melts in the spring,

and I feel glad,

as the ponies are when

the fresh grass starts

in the beginning of the year.

- TEN BEARS, YAMPARIKA COMMANCHE

Sunday's Devotional

Proverbs 10:31-32(Amplified): 31 The mouth of the righteous (those harmonious with God) brings forth skillful and godly  wisdom, but the perverse tongue shall be cut down (as a barren and rotten tree). 32 The lips of the (uncompromisingly) righteous know (and therefore utter) what is  acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked knows (and therefore speaks only) what is  obstinately willful and contrary.

 

Thoughts for the Day These scriptures in Proverbs compare the words of the righteous with the words of the  wicked.  When I was young some of the children would call others names and make fun of them.  The children who were being harassed would reply with this old saying:   "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me."   After studying the Bible, I realized this old adage is not true. Using unkind names  or words against people is harmful. It is harmful to the one who uses them, as well  as to the one it is being spoken against. Words are very powerful. Think about this.  Lawyers use words to build their cases. Our nation's laws are made up made up of  volumes of words. Our national treaties are words written on documents.  Words announce the daily news.  Words are tools that are used to communicate with one another. In the beginning  God used words to create the earth by speaking everything into existence (Genesis 1).  In the New Testament Jesus, Himself is referred to as the living Word. The Bible is  also known as the Word of God. Words are powerful! John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the  Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were  made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." The Bible has a lot to say about the way we should speak, and also warns us not  to speak in certain ways. In the Bible when someone speaks words that are good  and uplifting, they are referred to as speaking a "blessing." When one speaks evil  words against someone it is referred to as speaking a "curse" against them. This is  how "curse words" or "cussing" originated by speaking evil words. Since the devil is  behind curse words, many curse words are direct expletives that come against God  or Jesus. Jesus taught in the Bible that when a man curses or uses profanity it is a sign of evil  that is in that man's heart. It is popular today for both men and women to curse.  They never think of it as an evil condition in their heart, but rather a small thing  that everyone does. These small words of cursing the Bible says, will defile the  whole man if they are not repented of and stopped. Cussing and using the name  of the Lord in vain causes one to become defiled. Popular movies and T.V. are responsible for causing society to accept foul language  as the "norm." They portray cursing as a way to vent anger and tell people off.  The very attitudes behind cursing show that it is not right, as cussing is used to  demean and put down people. These words can be mild expletives to horrible  blasphemies.  Since the devil is the one who inspires these evil utterances he causes people to  use our Lord's name in the most ungodly ways. In the modern definition of cursing, usually people use the name of Jesus or God  in vain and swear with curses such as "go to hell" or "damn you." These words  clearly show it is an evil coming from the devil. Have you ever wondered why  people do not not use the names of gods of other religions when they curse?  The names that the devil hates and uses people to voice hateful curses are "God,"  "Christ," "Jesus Christ" and "Jesus."  Terms about hell and heaven are also used in derogatory ways. The very misuse  of these words should prove the existence of God and the reality of a heaven and hell.  Neither adults nor children should use bad language if we are to be like our Lord.   We do not have to use curse words to emphasize our intentions. Colossians 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy,  filthy communication out of your mouth. 9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye  have put off the old man with his deeds; 10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image  of him that created him." Matthew 5:37: "But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for  whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil." Psalm 19:14: "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart,  be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer." These verses in Proverbs say that God accepts the words of the righteous  while the words of the wicked will one day be cut off, along with those who  speak them.

 

Prayer for the Day Dear Father, Thank You for all that You have done for me. Lord, I ask you to forgive me for  failing You. Lord, I want my words to be like Your Words. Lord, you never speak any unkind  thing. You are gentle and loving. Your Words are always the truth. We can depend on You  and trust that what You said is the truth. You never lie. Lord, may I be good for my word.  Help me not to give it lightly, and when I do tell someone I will do something, remind me  if I fail to keep my word so I can make it right. In our society it seems that so many, especially  in the business world, are very careless about their words. Help me to be a witness for  You as one that keeps their word even as You do. In the name of Jesus I pray.  Amen.

You Are Part of Me

You are part of me now
You touched me,
With your kindness and love
So enchanted.
Your soft lips are kind.
Your eyes glow with life.
I'm glad you touched me,
You're part of me now.

- Lloyd Carl Owle, Cherokee

Treasures of Life

This life offers many treasures
Some too wonderful to believe
Our status in life is measured
by the money we receive.

It's a show of size and measure
In the amount that we possess
We walk proud at the vision
of one living with much less

We have a pride so large
It cannot be controlled
Our mouths speak so foolish
of all that we could hold!

But you know that we really
are holding NOTHING at all....
What a short life that we live
when eternity gives its call!

Will we cry of pride and stature,
when we're standing before our Lord?
Will we show a pile of money?
Or hide in shame of all we've hoard?

You see dear friend that life
Is not the wealth that we own....
It's in the precious Grace of Jesus
and the forgiveness He has shown!

No possessions will go with us
as we travel that last mile
Will He know us when we're knocking?
and greet us as His child?

Or will His door close slowly
with a tear running down His face?
As He cries, "I KNOW YOU NOT!"
"Why did you turn from Grace?" 

 -Linda Sue Etling

We Are Still Here

I have been asked, how do you define an Indian, is it a matter of blood content? I say no, an Indian is someone who thinks of themselves as an Indian. But that's not so easy to do and one has to earn the entitlement somehow. You have to have a certain experience of the world in order to formulate this idea. I know how my mother saw the world, and her mother before her. That's how I see the world. - UNKNOWN

Did You Know?

 

There are many stereotypes of American Indians that must be avoided.

The truth is:

• Indians do not all look alike.
• Not all Indians know Native history and culture, especially that which is not their own.
• Indians observe the religion of their choice.
• Not all Indians are alcoholics.
• "Indian-ness" is not decided by the percentage of Indian blood in your body.
• Indians do not always have an Indian name.
• Indians were not uncivilized before the white man came to the Western Hemisphere.
• Indians were not conquered.
• There are many American Indian heroes. 

When Legends Die

 

When the legends die, dreams die also,

And when dreams die, there is no greatness.

And when there is no greatness,

who will suffer the most?

Well, I will tell you, the people.

The people who don't know their own shadows.

And cannot see their visions clearly,

And the ones who don't know themselves pretty well,

But someday when you stop and think,

You'll see the real image of yourself

and the ones that were before you

and then you'll see.

- ANONYMOUS ZUNI STUDENT

In the Rain

 

  The gentle rain speaks upon the soft earth and God is in the midst of the mist reminding us that the brightness of the sunshine is on the other side of every dark cloud. Droplets dance in silence as they are introduced to the world. We have been here before they say and are here again to refresh and bless. As the moon reflects the light of the sun, nature reflects the beauty of God.

  I am not angry with the world but with its two-legged dwellers. Dwellers who want to look through a tube at stars they can't already see or investigate biomes of invisible nature. Dwellers that can't hear the rain sing to the Creator the appreciation of just being or hear child say I love you. Dwellers that can't answer the birds when they tell you not to worry, everything will be OK, or just enjoy being one of the people thankful for the corn today.

  The soft rain whispers. There will be plants. There will be grain. There will be food. There will be flowers. There will be fruit. There will be a tomorrow.

  Don't worry, you are being taken care of and watched over. Relax and get intune with God and each other and go for love walks...in the rain. - Author Unknown, View from the Medicine Lodge, Jim Great Elk Waters

View from the Medicine Lodge 

The Blessing of No

 

I asked Creator to remove my feelings of self-importance.

Creator said, "No."

"It is not for me to remove this feeling you dislike.

It is your job to make it go away."

I asked Creator to grant me tolerance.

Creator said, "No." 

" Tolerance wells up from disrespect.

Tolerance isn't granted, it is earned."

I asked Creator to fill me with cheer.

Creator again said, "No."

"I give you Blessings, finding that which brings you cheer, 

is up to you."

I asked Creator to free me from anguish.

Creator said, "No."

"Anguish draws you apart from worldly pleasures and

brings you closer to me."

I asked Creator to make my spirit grow.

Creator said, "No."

"You must grow on your own, but I will trim you to

make you fruitful."

I asked for all things that might allow me to more enjoy life.

Creator said, "No."

 "I will give you life so that

you may enjoy all things."

I asked Creator to teach me to love others,

as he loves me.

Creator said,

"Ahhh..., finally you understand."

- Jim Great Elk Waters, View from the Medicine Lodge

 

Teach the Children Well

You who are so wise must know that different nations have different conception of things. You will not therefore take it amiss if our ideas of the white man's kind of education happens not to be the same as yours. We have had some experience of it.

Several of our young people were brought up in your colleges. They were instructed in all your sciences; but, when they came back to us, they were all bad runners, ignorant of every means of living in the woods, unable to bear either cold or hunger. They didn't know how to build a cabin, take a deer, or kill an enemy. They spoke our language imperfectly.

They were therefore unfit to be hunters, warriors, or counsellors; they were good for nothing.

We are, however, not the less obliged for your kind offer, though we decline accepting it. To show our gratefulness, it the gentleman of Virginia shall send us a dozen of their sons, we will take great care with their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them.

- Canassatego, Chief of the Onondaga Nation

The Enchantment of Tribes

  I am remembering and have a desire to share with you, a beautiful story told to me by a young lady. It was the end of the World War II and her dad was returning home. He came from a very close network of Italian families that lived near each other in New Jersey.

   He had a ride back from where his ship had docked. Of course he was filled with emotion as he came closer and closer to home. Suddenly, about five miles from home, he asked to be dropped off. He had decided to walk the last few miles himself and give himself time to emotionally "arrive". He wanted to savor every moment of coming home! This was a time to feel the essence of the town he came from, to savor pleasant memories of growing up as he walked and to allow his anticipation to build even further. Every step took him closer to friends and loved ones! He looked at every tree. He enjoyed every house he passed. He didn't even feel the weight of his duffel bag flung over his shoulder. He took his time walking. His parents knew that he was coming home soon, but they didn't know exactly when. Thank G-d he was alive! That knowledge was enough to sustain them.

   Meanwhile, as he walked several people recognized him. Some called out "hello" and several ran up to him and hugged him. He was offered rides, but refused. However, behind closed doors the magic began. As he passed by these people, the news was quickly transmitted on the telephone that he was coming! Joe's son was home from the war. Pass the word. And they did.

   By the time he got down to his street the street was filled with friends and family waiting for him. Would you believe several hundred? People shouted and clapped. He was hugged and kissed. His bag was taken from him. Everyone wanted to be near him. "Make room for Joe and Rosie! For goodness sake, let them get near their own son!" He literally had to work his way through the crowd of neighbors and other relatives to fall into the arms of his mom and dad. How good it felt to be held again by the two people who loved him so much! And where was that pretty young woman that he meant to look up now that he was home? Oh, well, that would have to wait at least one more day. The rest of today was filled with fresh Italian foods, wine, hugs, stories and a place to come home too.

   What a beautiful story. We all need a place to come home to--a place to be loved, to feel connected and with purpose. In The Enchanted Self I teach about belonging to tribes and how important it is. I even feel the energy of the tribe that this young man belonged to and I wasn't there. The positive energy was so strong that it not only filled his granddaughter--and could still be transmitted to me--and I hope to you.

   He needed his tribe and his tribe needed him. He needed his time to re-enter. The energies connecting him and his tribe were so strong that he could not just be dropped off. He had to re-enter slowly at first and prepared himself for the intensity of connection. His tribe likewise prepared itself by a wonderful signal system--smoke coming up in puffs on the desert. The system worked so well that by the time he arrived a celebration was already up and running.

   Tribes are our gift to ourselves. They offer us a gateway so we can come back again and again. They offer us a signal system so that the important things are transmitted in a timely fashion, and they offer us the welcoming arms that help us belong, feel appreciated and have a place. May each of us have the gift of the right tribes in our lives. -  Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

Enchanted Self 

Great Spirit

 

Great Spirit,
give us hearts to understand;
Never to take from creation's beauty more than we give;
Never to destroy wantonly for the furtherance of greed;
Never to deny to give our hands for the building of earth's beauty;
Never to take from her what we cannot use.

Give us hearts to understand
That to destroy earth's music is to create confusion;
That to wreck her appearance is to blind us to beauty;
That to callously pollute her fragrance is to make a house of stench;
That as we care for her she will care for us.

We have forgotten who we are.
We have sought only our own security.
We have exploited simply for our own ends.
We have distorted our knowledge.
We have abused our power.

Great Spirit, whose dry lands thirst,
help us to find the way to refresh your lands.

Great Spirit, whose waters are choked with debris and pollution,
help us to find the way to cleanse your waters.

Great Spirit, whose beautiful earth grows ugly with mis-use,
help us to find the way to restore beauty to your handiwork.

Great Spirit, whose creatures are being destroyed,
help us to find a way to replenish them.

Great Spirit, whose gifts to us are being lost
in selfishness and corruption,
help us to find the way to restore our humanity.

- UNKNOWN

Grandfather Great Spirit

 

All over the world the faces
of living ones are alike.

With tenderness they have
come up out of the ground.

Look upon your children

that they may face the winds
And walk the good road to the Day of Quiet.

Grandfather Great Spirit
Fill us with the Light.
Give us the strength to understand,
And the eyes to see.

Teach us to walk the soft Earth
as relatives to all that live.

First to Last Breath

Children were taught that true politeness was to be defined in actions rather than in words. They were never allowed to pass between the fire and the older person or a visitor, to speak while others were speaking, or to make fun of a crippled or disfigured person. If a child thoughtlessly tried to do so, a parent, in a quiet voice, immediately set him right.
Expressions such as "excuse me," "pardon me," and "so sorry" now so often lightly and unnecessarily used, are not in the Lakota language. If one chanced to injure or cause inconvenience to another wanunhecun, or "mistake," was spoken. This was sufficient to indicate that no discourtesy was intended and that what happened was accidental.
Our young people, raised under old rules of courtesy, never indulged in the present habit of talking incessantly and all at the same time. To do so would have been not only impolite, but foolish; for poise, so much admired as a social grace, could not be accompanied by restlessness. Pauses were acknowledged gracefully and did not cause lack of ease or embarrassment.
In talking to children, the old Lakota would place a hand on the ground and explain: "We sit in the lap of our Mother. From her we, and all other living things, come. We shall soon pass, but the place where we now rest will last forever." So we, too, learned to sit or lie on the ground and become conscious of life about us in its multitude of forms.
Sometimes we boys would sit motionless and watch the swallows, the tiny ants, or perhaps some small animal at its work and ponder its industry and ingenuity; or we lay on our backs and looked long at the sky, and when the stars came out made shapes from the various groups.
Everything was possessed of personality, only differing from us in form. Knowledge was inherent in all things. The world was a library and its books were the stones, leaves, grass, brooks, and the birds and animals that shared, alike with us, the storms and blessings of earth. We learned to do what only the student of nature learns, and that was to feel beauty. We never railed at the storms, the furious winds, and the biting frosts and snows. To do so intensified human futility, so whatever came we adjusted ourselves, by more effort and energy if necessary, but without complaint.
Even the lightning did us no harm, for whenever it came too close, mothers and grandmothers in every tipi put cedar leaves on the coals and their magic kept danger away. Bright days and dark days were both expressions of the Great Mystery, and the Indian reveled in being close to the Great Holiness.
Observation was certain to have its rewards. Interest, wonder, admiration grew, and the fact was appreciated that life was more than mere human manifestation; it was expressed in a multitude of forms.
This appreciation enriched Lakota existence. Life was vivid and pulsing; nothing was casual and commonplace. The Indian lived - lived in every sense of the word - from his first to his last breath.

- Chief Luther Standing Bear - Oglala Sioux

Path of Destruction

 

When we Indians kill meat, we eat it all up. When we dig roots, we make little holes. When we build houses, we make little holes. When we burn grass for grasshoppers, we don't ruin things. We shake down acorns and pine nuts. We don't chop down the trees. We only use dead wood. But the white people plow up the ground, pull down the trees, kill everything. ... the White people pay no attention. ...How can the spirit of the earth like the White man? ... everywhere the White man has touched it, it is sore. - Wintu Woman, 19th Century

Honor Your Gifts

 

I've just finished reading two of Kent Nerburn's insightful novels about our first people and how their lives today are important to our own spiritual lives and the lives of our children in their future here on Mother Earth. "Neither Wolf Nor Dog" and its sequel, "the Wolf at Twilight" are both honest views of our indigenous people & how their spiritual lives today reflect their past in today's world & will continue to impact our future if we will only but listen...  - SENECAWOLF

 

“Remember to be gentle with yourself and others. We are all children of chance and none can say why some fields will blossom while others lay brown beneath the August sun. Care for those around you. Look past your differences. Their dreams are no less than yours, their choices no more easily made. And give, give in any way you can, of whatever you posses. To give is to love. To withhold is to wither. Care less for your harvest than for how it is shared and your life will have meaning and your heart will have peace.” - KENT NERBURN

Kent Nerburn's Books 

Walk with me

 

If through experience, your soul

Has gained new heights which I

As yet in dim-lit vision see,

Hold out your hand and point the way,

Lest from its straightness I should stray,

And walk a mile with me.

- UNKNOWN