Tag Archives: Native Americans
Sacred Circles
Contemplating Creation Sacred Circles Wednesday, October 13, 2021 God is an infinite sphere, whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere. —Alain of Lille, The Rules of Theology Father Richard views the Trinity as a mutual “circle dance” of love and communion. Many mystics understood the circle as a more appropriate geometric shape than… Continue Reading Sacred Circles
Dominating Power
Good and Bad Power Dominating Power Tuesday, August 10, 2021 Contemplative teacher Beatrice Bruteau (1930‒2014) understood domination, what I’ve referred to as “power over” others, as the cause of much of the world’s suffering. Jesus by contrast models a loving, self-giving alternative to domination power. Here is Bruteau’s description of domination: The theme that I… Continue Reading Dominating Power
Beyond the Binaries
The Holiness of Human Sexuality Beyond the Binaries Thursday, June 10, 2021 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ… Continue Reading Beyond the Binaries
The Soul Wound
Trauma and Healing The Soul Wound Wednesday, May 5, 2021 Attorney and activist Sherri Mitchell from the Penobscot Nation writes about the collective trauma and “soul wound” [1] that Native Americans have suffered: My group, Native Americans, have suffered an unrecognized holocaust in this country. The brutal genocide of Native peoples is hard to acknowledge… Continue Reading The Soul Wound
One Life, One Breath
The Contemplative Call to Nature One Life, One Breath Thursday, April 22, 2021 On this Earth Day, Sherri Mitchell, a Native American attorney and sacred activist for environmental protection and human rights shares two particular terms which offer us some much-needed Indigenous wisdom and compassion. N’dilnabamuk—“all my relations.” Many people have heard Native people say… Continue Reading One Life, One Breath
The Reciprocity of the Universe
Nature, Cosmos, and Connection The Reciprocity of the Universe Thursday, February 18, 2021 The bloodline of God is connected to everything . . . shells on the ocean shore, the mushrooms growing in the forest, the trees stretching to the clouds, the tiniest speck of snow in the winter, and our dust-to-dustness—we are all connected… Continue Reading The Reciprocity of the Universe
Grandmother God
Ways of Knowing Grandmother God Wednesday, February 12, 2020 Since first working at Acoma Pueblo as a deacon in 1969 and making my permanent home in New Mexico in 1986, I have learned much from our Native American pueblos and tribes. I encourage you to learn about the history surrounding your home. [1] Settler colonial—and primarily… Continue Reading Grandmother God
Reciprocity
Science: Old and New Reciprocity Friday, November 8, 2019 I’ve always had a special affection for trees, especially the centenarian cottonwood tree at the Center for Action and Contemplation here in Albuquerque. Science is discovering that trees have much to teach us. In her book Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer—a botanist, professor, and member of… Continue Reading Reciprocity
Senses Unfamiliar
Ways of Knowing Senses Unfamiliar Friday, October 18, 2019 One of the gifts of Native traditions is their openness to wisdom from many avenues beyond rational thought—community, ancestors, dance, drumming, nature, and symbols that speak deeply to the unconscious. I am humbled to learn from our Pueblo, Apache, and Navajo brothers and sisters here in… Continue Reading Senses Unfamiliar
Initiation
Primal and Indigenous Spirituality Initiation Thursday, August 9, 2018 Life and grace seem to move us along, often without our notice, toward greater maturity, inclusivity, and nondual wisdom. But at certain points along the way, humans are prone to getting stuck unless we have some kind of initiatory experience, healing rites of passage, and the… Continue Reading Initiation