Good evening dear family of love,
Let us take time for a virtual prayer vigil and stand with our family members at Standing Rock and each other. Take time for silence and to be a holy presence one to another.
To begin let us engage in the Be Stills.
Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.
Inhale slowly,
Hold.
Exhale gently.
Repeat.
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Our vigiling music for tonight:
Millenium- Re-Issue Album
Or
All Tracks- R. Carlos Nakai
A Smudging Prayer
Creator, our Father in heaven, we come to you as your children. We confess that we are weak and broken images of you. We pray for the forgiveness and healing you give in Jesus Christ. May his Spirit clean our spirits, minds, hearts, and bodies. We pray that your Holy Spirit will help us to worship in spirit and truth. We pray in the name of Jesus, so that his Spirit will carry our prayers to you. Amen.
God of many names we light our candles and set them on a holy and life giving pathway to you.
God we light the first pair of candles in honor and reverence for the holiness of Earth, Sea, and Sky.
God we light the second pair of candles in honor and respect for all of your creatures from the tiniest microbe to the tallest giraffe.
God we light the fourth pair of candles representing the 4 directions as we pray this prayer:
Prayer of The Four Directions
Chief Seattle
Great Spirit of Light, come to me out of the East (red) with the power of the rising sun. Let there be light in my words, let there be light on my path that I walk. Let me remember always that you give the gift of a new day. And never let me be burdened with sorrow by not starting over again.
Great Spirit of Creation, send me the warm and soothing winds from the South (yellow). Comfort me and caress me when I am tired and cold. Unfold me like the gentle breezes that unfold the leaves on the trees. As you give to all the earth your warm, moving wind, give to me, so that I may grow close to you in warmth. Man did not create the web of life, he is but a strand in it. Whatever man does to the web, he does to himself.
Great Life-Giving Spirit, I face the West (black), the direction of sundown. Let me remember everyday that the moment will come when my sun will go down. Never let me forget that I must fade into you. Give me a beautiful color, give me a great sky for setting, so that when it is my time to meet you, I can come with glory.
Great Spirit of Love, come to me with the power of the North (white). Make me courageous when the cold wind falls upon me. Give me strength and endurance for everything that is harsh, everything that hurts, everything that makes me squint. Let me move through life ready to take what comes from the north.
God we light each pair now in remembrance and in solidarity with The Tribes who walked the Trail of Tears, The Dakota 38, Wounded Knee, all the Treaties that were broken, All Native and indigenous peoples, Standing Rock.
We light this special candle for all the Native Tribes and Reservations whose names we may not remember but you do God.
Finally we light this candle God in loving memory of all Indigenous peoples who have lost their lives through genocide, violence, abuse, terror from the White Man, and by taking their own lives. We remember especially the young who find it hard to be Native American and are lead to take matters into their own hands and take their own lives.
We honor our brothers and sisters again with their prayers. Let them speak to us as we enter in with heart homes awakened and with listening ears of the hear.
Words That Speak The American Indian is of the soil, whether it be the region of forests, plains, pueblos, or mesas. He fits into the landscape, for the hand that fashioned the continent also fashioned the man for his surroundings. He once grew as naturally as the wild sunflowers, he belongs just as the buffalo belonged.... Out of the Indian approach to life there came a great freedom, an intense and absorbing respect for life, enriching faith in a Supreme Power, and principles of truth, honesty, generosity, equity, and brotherhood as a guide to mundane relations. You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round..... The Sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nest in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.... Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves.
-Black Elk (Oglala) 1863-1950
~TO WALK THE RED ROAD~
Long road winding began in the stars,
spilled onto the mountain tops,
was carried in the snow to the streams,
to the rivers, to the ocean…
It covers Canada, Alaska, America,
Mexico to Guatemala,
and keeps winding around the indigenous.
The Red Road is a circle of people
standing hand in hand,
people in this world, people between
people in the Spirit world.
star people, animal people, stone people,
river people, tree people…
The Sacred Hoop.
To walk the Red Road
is to know sacrifice, suffering.
It is to understand humility.
It is the ability to stand naked before God
in all things for your wrong doings,
for your lack of strength,
for your uncompassionate way,
for your arrogance - because to walk
the Red Road, you always know
you can do better. And you know,
when you do good things,
it is through the Creator, and you are grateful.
To walk the Red Road
is to know you stand on equal ground
with all living things. It is to know that
because you were born human,
it gives you superiority over nothing.
It is to know that every creation carries a Spirit,
and the river knows more than you do,
the mountains know more than you do,
the stone people know more than you do,
the trees know more than you do,
the wind is wiser than you are,
and animal people carry wisdom.
You can learn from every one of them,
because they have something you don't:
They are void of evil thoughts.
They wish vengeance on no one, they seek Justice.
To Walk the Red Road,
you have God given rights,
you have the right to pray,
you have the right to dance,
you have the right to think,
you have the right to protect,
you have the right to know Mother,
you have the right to dream,
you have the right to vision,
you have the right to teach,
you have the right to learn,
you have a right to grieve,
you have a right to happiness,
you have the right to fix the wrongs,
you have the right to truth,
you have a right to the Spirit World.
To Walk the Red Road
is to know your Ancestors,
to call to them for assistance…
It is to know that there is good medicine,
and there is bad medicine…
It is to know that Evil exists,
but is cowardly as it is often in disguise.
It is to know there are evil spirits
who are in constant watch
for a way to gain strength for themselves
at the expense of you.
To Walk the Red Road,
you have less fear of being wrong,
because you know that life is a journey,
a continuous circle, a sacred hoop.
Mistakes will be made,
and mistakes can be corrected
if you will be humble,
for if you cannot be humble,
you will never know
when you have made a mistake.
If you walk the Red Road,
you know that every sorrow
leads to a better understanding,
every horror cannot be explained,
but can offer growth.
To Walk the Red Road
is to look for beauty in all things.
To Walk the Red Road
is to know you will one day
cross to the Spirit World,
and you will not be afraid…
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Good Night Dear Ones! Rest Gentle and if you would like to pray additional prayers here is the blog from yesterday: Prayers for Standing Rock and a time with Native American Prayers in solidarity and with love for all indigenous peoples.
I love you all. May God Bless you each nano-second that you live, move and just be. I give thanks to God for you this night and always. Tomorrow we most definitely will have our Story From the Window.
With love and presence,
Sara
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