Walking The Journey

I had the opportunity to travel alone, driving over 1100 miles, through the prairie and plains of South and North Dakota. I saw God's beauty all around me, the great vastness of land, the beauty of a sunset, the breathtaking wonder of the Badlands, to name a few.  I was able to experience solitude, loneliness, reliance on God, silence, and me in a different way than I had in a long time. During this time, I drove through and stayed in four Indian Reservations, visited three Tribal Colleges, met so many relatives, created new friendships, and gained a refreshing of my soul.  Along the way, I encountered many memorials to people, places, and events that hold significance to Indian people. I walked through cemeteries of my ancestors, honoring them and walking along the memorials that honored their sacrifice. They were there to remind us, never to forget. There are many references in the old testament where God commands man to build a memorial, to create something ...

I've discovered in life that we walk through cycles and that these cycles are like seasons of the year. The seasons travel through cycles and have a pattern. Each season has its own qualities, it's own specifics. Each season relies on the season before it for its own birth and looks to the season after it for its death. That sounds gloomy but in reality, the cycle of seasons are the rhythm of life. We need each season as we move through the years. Serenity comes when we realize the season we are in and learn to understand and accept the flow and events of that season.  We enter our seasons with hope, the blossoms of spring and the great and new feelings that come with reviving rain and the warmth of the son. Our spirits remain joyful and hope and life is all around us.  Summer is a season of contentment, of peace, of relaxation. We walk the earth in new and wondering ways, our senses alive and active of all that lives around us. Fall brings with it beauty, maturity, and...

"There is a dignity about the social intercourse of old Indians which reminds me of a stroll through a winter forest" - Frederick Remington. I like winter, the snow, the cold, and the beauty that winter brings. It has a sense of wonder, of renewal, of a freshness for me. It also brings with its beauty an element of danger, of a wisdom and strength that needs to be respected. If we do not respects its strength, we can suffer at its hand. When I respect winter, I can enjoy her beauty and appreciate the life she brings. Remington's words tell of a respect and honor for the wisdom of the Elders, from a non-Native who found a peace in the presence and lives of the old Indians he encountered. We have become a people who forget the wisdom of the Elders, who want to keep up with the worlds pace and not take the time to be in the greatness of those who walked before us. Being who we are is knowing where we came from, practicing the ways of our ancestors, and listening to the s...

I wasn't able to watch the state of the union address last night, I was teaching an evening class.  I am aware of how polar we are politically these days.  In reading political commentary, many feel that we are more polarized today than we have ever been.  I see this myself as I read Facebook postings.  I don't seem to see much critical thought on either side.  I seem to see more attacks against conservative and Republican views, which might just be due to my own Facebook.  I would enjoy engaging in discussion that is well thought out, looks at facts and reality on both sides, and comes to conclusions based on reality versus political bias and emotions.  I've been reading the book of Genesis, chapters 30 and 31 today, the story of Jacob and Laban, and Jacob's wives, Leah and Rachel, sisters in birth. So much jealousy, so much manipulation, so much deceit, all within the structure of a family.  It made me realize, again, that what we are...

Driving into work this morning, my eyes caught the flashing blue and red lights in my rear view mirror, and I felt my heart skip a beat or two.   The funny thing, the lights were moving in the opposite direction I was moving.   It appears that the police car drove right past me, flipped his lights on after he passed me, and I never noticed that he passed me, and wouldn't have, unless he had turned his lights on. Resembles life, huh.   Ever noticed yourself just cruising along in life, not taking notice of what is around you, ignoring life as it moves on. Ever notice yourself losing interest in hobbies, events, and even people, slowly sliding into survival, letting go of living, your heart never missing a beat anymore, not feeling the love and excitement of life, liberty, relationships, and even God. The thing is, the slide is long, slow, and steady, at such a pace that we don't realize we're no long living life until the changes around us are so huge that we no ...

I spoke to a young lady today who shared with me that that time has finally come, her most loved parent has decided to quit the fight, give up on chemotherapy, and enter hospice, at the ripe young age of 48. Stop for a moment and say a prayer for both of them, and don’t worry that you don’t know who the people are, God knows. The conversation jarred my present time to a time so many years ago, watching my own parent slowly walk into the arms of death, to be greeted by the life arms of his God, of his Savior. Momentary sadness and emotional missing of a man I wish I'd know longer, who I wish knew my children, and then the welcoming flooding of joy and peace that he was my dad, that his pain has long been gone, the pain that this young woman and her parent are just now entering. We need regular reminders like this, of just how blessed life is, and how quickly it can all be taken away. But then, is it really ever taken away? I know that my children can tell stories of their grandf...

In reading Billy Graham today, he points out a human irony that is too painfully true. We humans often have a way of rejecting the best and embracing the worse. Do not get me wrong, I realize and greatly appreciate our human quality to embrace goodness as well, such as how the sports and media embraced the tragic accident of Louisville's basketball player Kevin Ware, supporting him and allowing his true character to shine. It seems to me, and I can say this as I reflect on my own life story, that as we dumb down our moral code and accept more of the world's moral code, and dare I say the media's moral code, we allow more of the worse in life to become more of our normal, and unfortunately, the worse overshadows the best and redefines what is the best. We do it in simple ways, in ways we can all look inward to see. We accept language that we once found offensive as acceptable. We allow our eyes to feed our souls what should never be allowed to enter, what we tell our ...