Facing the future with grace, dignity and faith

Page 5

Tansi, ahnee and hello.

There is a warm wind this morning. Outside my window there is much to see and feel. Old Man Winter has retreated and the racket of the birds against the deep blue of the morning sky is in itself a relief from the recent cold. Springtime teases from the shadows.

Christmas has come and gone. For me it was a quiet time spent in the comfort of my small apartment pondering the meaning of this time of year.

It's been some time now since I've done the gifts, turkey, carols routine. Sometimes my life tends to close around itself so discreetly that I seldom notice the distance between myself and the friends I've made in this city. Privacy and solitude.

Someone told me once a long time ago that the most honest answers are found in quiet rooms. A little later someone else would tell me that the only way to find a direction towards a working and living relationship with the Creator of all things is in the solitude of the soul.

All alone and in the privacy of the truth of my own circumstances.

It wasn't all that long ago that periods of reflection for me were painful times. All that I really had to look back on were times of hardship and times of grief. I hadn't yet re-established the connection and was lost.

These days much has changed.

Reflection is an important part of my daily routine. These mornings with the smells of sweetgrass and of course, coffee, in the air reflecting on the goings-on of the day jest passed is almost a ritual. There's not a lot of guilt or shame anymore. Instead there's an incredible sense of rightness and connectedness.

It's taken a lot of time and practice to get to the point where going inward is a relaxed and comfortable process. Because I'm a naturally active kind of person I often feel the urge to jump right out of bed and into the business of living without stopping to think about anything.

Those days when I do that always seem to end up being those days when I'm forced by circumstance to learn more about myself and my weaknesses.

When I take the time to center myself through reflection and prayer and meditation I encounter my own humanity. I'm able to see my limitations.

I am able to accept all of my possibilities. I'm able to become part of all that is. The benefit of all of this is that the people I encounter throughout the day also have the benefit of dealing with another fully functioning human being.

Brotherhood.

Which brings me to hair.

When I hit the streets at the tail-end of the 60's, long hair was a symbol of restlessness and rebellion. I'm not sure about the restlessness but I sure was into the rebellion part. I grew it to be accepted.

When I began to travel the Indian way, my hair became much more. These days I've been wearing it in two braids most of the time. Now there was a time in the beginning when I still held on to the old Tonto mentality.

The kind of thinking that tells you if you look enough like an Indian you must be an Indian. Back then, my hair represented the identity I was searching for.

These days my hair represents the whole process of reflection. The Old One told me about the power of mornings. He told me about the creative energy that lives within this particular time of the day. He talked about the need for prayer and reflection at the start of the day.

He pointed to my hair and told me that if I were ever having trouble finding the time to go inward that my hair would give me that time.

He told me of the sweetgrass. He talked of the prayers the Old Ones offer while they are gathering. He told me of the significance of the three strands that make up the sweetgrass braid. Honesty, forgiveness, and sharing.

He told me that my hair is like the sweetgrass braid. Each braid is made up of three strands. Instead of getting up in the morning and running around like a crazy man, it was important to take the time to pray. It was important to smudge. It was important to take some time to reflect.

These days as I braid my hair in he mornings, I concentrate on the three medicine ways. Somedays these medicine ways are different depending on my needs for that day. Some days they may be tolerance, honesty and kindness.

Other days they might be patience, trust and humility. Whatever they are I have the time, while I braid my heir to center myself on three healing spiritual principles.

And I grow.

The old decade has disappeared. Together as nations of people we move forward into the 1990s. Together as circles of people we move into a common destiny.

For myself I carry good weapons. The 80's were a great teaching time for me and I learned a tremendous amount. What the 90's hold will be revealed in its time.

By going inward each day I face the future with grace, dignity and faith and in that is the power of the medicine way.

Until next week, May you walk proudly upon the land.

Meegwetch.