Choctaw elder and retired Episcopal bishop Steven Charleston explains how Indigenous elders carry the wisdom of the past in service of the present and future:
Elders are a people of the future. My culture respects the elders not only because of their wisdom, but because of their determination. The elders are tough. They have survived many struggles and many losses. Now, as they look ahead to another generation, they are determined that their sacrifices will not have been in vain, that their children’s children will not grow up in a world more broken than the one they sought to repair. The elders are voices of justice. They are champions for the earth. They defend the conscience of the community. We follow the elders because they have a passion for tomorrow. They are people of the future, not the past.
Tradition is not about staying the same. It is not about continuing spiritual business as usual. Native American tradition is the path to the future because it is how we constantly renew what we have. Faith is about making all things new. All things—not just a few. It is about transforming life in the kiva [communal home] by reimagining it and recreating it until life emerges, just as our past reshaped to fit our future….
The ancestors carried us. They were as troubled as we, our ancestors, those who came before us, and for the same reasons: fear of illness, a broken heart, fights in the family, the threat of another war. Corrupt politicians walked their stage and natural disasters appeared without warning. And yet they came through, carrying us within them, through the grief and struggle, through the personal pain and the public chaos, finding their way with love and faith, not giving in to despair, but walking upright until their last step was taken. My culture does not honor the ancestors as a quaint spirituality of the past, but as a living source of strength for the present. They did it and so will we.
Charleston speaks of how the wisdom of our ancestors can still guide us:
Our ancestors in the faith are not only still here for us, but they actively seek to help us in every way they can.
Our eternal grandparents. They are watching over us, all those who have gone before. They are our ancestors, and they have seen enough in their own lives to know what we are going through. They have survived economic collapse, social unrest, political struggle, and great wars that raged for years. Now, from their place of peace, they seek to send their wisdom into our hearts, to guide us to reconciliation, to show us our mistakes before we make them. Their love for us is strong. Their faith in us is certain. When times get hard, sit quietly and open your spirit to the eternal grandparents, who are still a part of your spiritual world. Receive their blessing, for their light will lead you home.
Reference:
Steven Charleston, Ladder to the Light: An Indigenous Elder’s Meditations on Hope and Courage (Minneapolis, MN: Broadleaf Books, 2021), 132–133, 134.
Image credit and inspiration: Jenna Keiper, a walk in the fog with Richard, Kirsten, and Patrick (detail), 2019, photo, Albuquerque. Click here to enlarge image. Patrick Boland, Kirsten Oates, and Richard Rohr walk together—students and teacher—navigating a pathway on a cold, foggy morning.
Story from Our Community:
I grew up outside of Boston in a large gregarious Catholic family on a limited income. Going to Mass on Sunday, for me, was like visiting a museum. More than that, it made me feel grounded. The structure, colors, stories, and people offered an opportunity to reflect, and then to soar within myself. I’m grateful for the images offered in the Daily Meditations; they make me reflect on the powerful spiritual mentors who created them and all the images that have enriched my life.
—Patricia M.
