Christine

~White Buffalo Calf Woman talked with the women of the village that they might remember their great importance and role in the life of the tribe, for it was the women who sustained the tribe...she also talked to the children, reminding them that they were the future of the tribe and must prepare themselves in a good and sacred way...”

When I saw this picture I thought of my daughter Christine. She is the baby of the family… well the youngest of the children. Certainly she is not a baby anymore. She is all grown up, married with four children. She is a fourth grade teacher in a prestigious private school. She has for the past several years worked in early childhood education in the day care venue, project managed a couple on-line businesses, managed her own web sites, did consulting on Social Media, and is the chief cook, housekeeper, children’s driver while carrying a full load at the University of Central Florida.

The older girls Shakti and Julia are in middle school with lots of extracurricular activities to keep them and mom busy.  The younger girl and boy are five and three Amaya and Soham. These two never slow down; it wears me out just watching them. Amaya has a few activities that she is involved in that require attention. Soham (I call him ‘little chief’) on the other hand being the youngest and the only boy can spend his time doing everything he can to be the center of attention.

I do have to give Christine’s husband Shay a whole lot of credit in keeping the kids moving, helping with homework, watching one or all of the kids when mom is occupied, worn out, or doing something for herself. Shay works long hours as a computer programmer and project manager in an international world and in several time zones… yep that means working sometimes in the middle of his night. Oh, to be young again.

Now back to the original picture and American Indian Meditation. Christine has nurtured and continues to nurture her children age appropriately. I have seen the carry portrayed in the picture for many years… Christine holding her children close to her heart, making them feel loved, safe, and secure.

Now a new picture… the younger two:

 On Wednesday May first, yes May Day, Little Chief was playing in the playroom when he had a tumble with a heavy object on top of him. To be safe, Christine rushed him to the E.R. while Shay held down the fort. This is really where this picture not only reminded me of Christine but in fact was Christine holding her baby close to her heart, safe, and secure. The outcome was good, just bruised and scared. After a just in case C.T. scan, they returned home to keep him under observation the rest of the night.

This action and follow up was not exactly what Christine needed. The next morning she had to be at the University of Central Florida at 8:00 am in her cap and gown to walk in her graduation ceremony.

In spite of being sleepless and stressed she made it there and was beautiful to boot. Christine graduated with her degree in English Literature and Education with a 3.84 GPA. During a phone conversation yesterday she told me that she will now begin prepping for the GRE test.

Do you think a daddy could be prouder? Knowing the time and effort she has put into her family and now into her education, I call this a paramount event.

Christine we are so proud of you, love you so much, and are so happy for you.  I like you hair too… although you really look good with your natural dark hair, you look great with the almost blond look.

Congratulations Christine!!

Be The Duck, American Indian meditations, my musing, and a Tennessee Update

Writing to Save the Day  Writing can be a true spiritual discipline. Writing can help us to concentrate, to get in touch with the deeper stirrings of our hearts, to clarify our minds, to process confusing emotions, to reflect on our experiences, to give artistic expression to what we are living, and to store significant events in our memories. Writing can also be good for others who might read what we write. Quite often a difficult, painful, or frustrating day can be "redeemed" by writing about it. By writing we can claim what we have lived and thus integrate it more fully into our journeys. Then writing can become lifesaving for us and sometimes for others too.  ~Henri  Nouwen

Be The Duck

Many years ago, possibly even in my teens, I stumbled across a collection of inspirational quotes and the one stuck with me enough to scribble it down was this:  Always Behave Like A Duck.  Stay Calm and Unruffled On The Surface And Paddle Like Hell Underneath.  I don’t know why that one in particular hit me, but it’s been in my wallet or in my jewelry box for ages.  It may be slightly tattered and yellowed with age (much like myself), but it’s there and it pops up every now and again but mostly just stays tucked away in the filing cabinet of my mind.  The other day, while feeding the geese at the river with my children, the file drawer sprang open and I was reminded of the quote once again. 

We had a lot of old bread with us because this was the primary reason for our trip to that particular park.  It was a gorgeous day but when we approached the landing, there were only 4 birds waiting for us – a pair of geese and a pair of ducks.  We tossed the first bits of bread and the two ducks moved away to a quiet little cove downstream while the geese flapped their wings, shouted and made frenzied dives for the food.  This, of course, drew attention and suddenly several other geese made a mad dash to our landing. 

Never mind that it was their own actions that attracted the new guests, Goose #1 and Goose #2 were not at all happy with these party crashers and began to attack the new arrivals.  Meanwhile, the two quiet ducks were casually picking up all the bread that floated to their peaceful area while the geese were too busy fighting to pick it up.  Amid all the splashing and nipping, every goose managed to get a bit of bread but I can’t imagine that they enjoyed it since each piece represented something they were entitled to and that should be kept from all the newcomers.  Mine, mine, mine!!! 

I can’t pretend to know what goes on in the mind of a goose, but it seems that the fighting eventually became a game and that they were having fun.  Rowdy, frantic, chaotic activity just for the hell of it.  Fighting just to fight.  The more commotion that the geese created, the further down the river the two ducks moved.  Just quietly looked at one another and swam away.  No splash.  No noise.  Just movement away from the pandemonium. 

I recalled the quote at that moment and remembered why I liked it all along.  The geese and the ducks were from the same place.  They had the same opportunity for bread.  The geese screamed and shouted and demanded attention while proclaiming that all of the bread must be theirs!  The ducks wanted no part of that drama, moved away and patiently awaited the bread that they trusted would come down river to them.  When they had enough, they left the extra for the next birds that came along. 

We encounter Geese every day.  The guy leaning on his horn because you don’t turn right on red fast enough to please him is a Goose.  The coworker who alerts the media when they did something slightly beyond their job description is a Goose.  The woman in line at the grocery store who is so exasperated after having to wait more than a minute is a Goose.  I have a friend who has always referred to the snippy grumbling women in her office as The Geese.  That always made me laugh, but now I know what she was talking about.  Geese are territorial, mean and aggressive.  They scream and they bite.  They often don’t even remember why they are so angry in the first place.  They fight and bicker just for the sport of it.  The Geese are all around us.   

Now, how many Ducks do you know?  I feel fortunate to have many Ducks in my life. These are the people who do the right thing just because it’s the right thing, not because they expect accolades.  Ducks hold open doors and let people merge in traffic.  Ducks buy sour lemonade from a kid trying to earn money for bubblegum and declare it the best lemonade ever.  Ducks don’t grumble when things don’t go their way, they find a new way. Ducks work hard and don’t complain.  Ducks have troubles like anyone else, but they focus on the blessings, not the stressings and that’s how they keep moving forward. 

In other words, Ducks remain calm and unruffled on the surface while they are paddling like hell underneath. 

So that tattered yellow paper will remain in my jewelry box for a while longer and I’m going to do my best to be the Duck and on the days when that’s not so easy, I hope to at least recognize the Duck who is probably helping me out and save the best bread for them. 

Posted by Terri Capote 

http://tpwlimh.blogspot.com/2013/04/be-duck.html?spref=fb

Shadow of the Wolf & Native Wisdom & Poems of the Heart
~We had no definite idea of our relations and surroundings in the afterlife, we believed that there is a life after this one, but no one ever told me what part of man lived after death. We held the discharge of one's duty would make his future life more pleasant...~
~Geronimo, (One who Yawns) 1829-1909~

“Let him [the white man] be just and deal kindly with my people, for the dead are not powerless. Dead, did I say? There is no death, only a change of worlds."
-Chief Seattle
"The difference between the white man and us is this: You believe in the redeeming powers of suffering, if this suffering was done by somebody else, far away, two thousand years ago. We believe that it is up to every one of us to help each other, even through the pain of our bodies. ...We do not lay this burden onto our God, nor do we want to miss being face to face with the Spirit Power. ...We want no angel or saint to gain it for us and give it to us second-hand."-John Fire Lame Deer
 Our circle is timeless, flowing; it is new life emerging from death – life winning out over death.” -Lame Deer: Seeker of Visions

From the University of Oklahoma

Regardless of the denomination or tribal affiliation, American Indian Christians do not always reflect the assimilated image that policymakers had once anticipated. From the beginning, Christian and tribally specific beliefs and practices often combined to produce syncretic expressions that were and are simultaneously Christian and Indian. As James Treat writes, American Indian Christians "have constructed and maintained their . . . religious identities with a variety of considerations in mind. . . . Many native Christians accomplish this identification without abandoning or rejecting native religious traditions." Thus, the appearance of native hymn traditions, for example, has helped many tribes to maintain the cultural and spiritual power of language and belief according to traditional ways. In the late nineteenth century, moreover, mission stations often became associated with kin-based bands, thus serving as a focal point for new communities in which Native people who became deacons or lay leaders continued to maintain and express traditional ideals of generosity and kinship. In these and other ways Christianity gave many of Oklahoma's Indian people a way to accommodate the changing social and cultural contours of their world, and in doing so to maintain an important sense of ethnic identity and pride.

The statistics vary on what percent of American Indians are Christian; it is likely around 16%.  There is another 25% who embrace a combined belief of traditional Indian religion and Christianity.
I strongly support the efforts of the Native American Ministries /Indigenous of the Episcopal Church, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Native-AmericanIndigenous-Ministries-of-the-Episcopal-Church/121658134519767?fref=ts. I give them great praise and respect in all of their endeavors. I believe in their approach to ministry for American Indians. I encourage you to check out what they are doing.
John 5:24-27
New Revised Standard Version, Anglicized (NRSVA)
²⁴ Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life.
²⁵ ‘Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; ²⁷ and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.
John 6:37-40
New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)
³⁷ Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; ³⁸ for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰ This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.’

Tennessee Update

It is hard to believe that it has been six weeks since I last posted on the blog. Time flies whether we are having fun or not. We are grateful that it has mostly been fun.
The garden is coming right along.  Even though there have been a few chilly days and several stormy days, the veggies are beginning their journey to the dinner table.  The bushes and some of the flowering plants are showing their beauty around to house.  The birds are wonderful.  There are lots of them of many verities.  They sing to us every morning, day, and evening and the whip-o-will sings to us at night.  The bunnies and squirrels are all out in abundance which makes Gracie happy… playmates! The squirrels love it, I’m not so sure about the rabbits. We now have 13 fruit trees planted and blooming (plums, pears, peaches, nectarine, four verities of apple, and cherry) plus blackberry and blueberry bushes. I can’t wait until we are having Nutri-Bullet smoothies daily.
Jo and I both have been working too hard lately, trying to get the tough jobs done before it gets hot. We did make life a little easier. We broke down and bought a John Deere 500 tractor with mower.  We can now mow the front 1.5 acre in about an hour and half, with very little perspiration. Getting a tractor meant getting a shed big enough to house it and the rest of the equipment that had been in the garage. It is not cheap to be a quazi-farmer. But we are blessed and thankful that we are having this opportunity.
Our daughter Kelly came to visit and keep Jo company while I took mom’s ashes to Oklahoma, did a memorial service, and placed her in the Hominy Cemetery with dad. Roberta (my sister) met me there and we got to most all of the aunts, cousins, and second cousins. We truly enjoyed being there, Roberta even stayed a few days longer than me to visit with her best friend since elementary school (Linda). I got home in time to see Kelly before she flew back to Orlando. She left me with some yummy (and gluten free) cookies and the recipe for Kale Chips.  Now we stock up on Kale. Jo has now mastered the art of making them.  They are great as a snack or with a meal.  Thanks Kelly.
Glory, bless her sole, is still a challenge.  She doesn’t qualify for skilled or long term nursing yet, but cannot be qualified to go into an ALF because of all her special needs. She is bored most of the time. Since the weather is getting nicer, she is getting outside more. She still needs supervision and can’t be left alone for any length of time.  Keep Jo in your prayers, as well as Glory.
The West Polk Fire Rescue is keeping us a little busier these days. It does take a while for people to get used to us as their chaplains. As general members, we are both helping out when we can and a good deal of training so we will be even more helpful. We will be the trainers of a few classes on CISM and PTSD. I will help out with some of the FEMA, TEMA, EMA stuff.
I got my Concealed Weapon Carry permit faster than we have gotten our licenses to do ministry in the Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee… both do extensive background checks and have lots of forms to fill out. We are very active in our pastoral care ministries, but can’t be Priest and Deacon in the Episcopal Church setting.  In God’s time.
We get lots of prayer requests and honor them all giving them to God. We keep you all in our thoughts and prayers anyway. We ask that you do the same for us… we need all the prayer that we can get. There is a saying, ‘life is hard, but God is good’ which is so true in all of our lives.
Be blessed and we love getting your e-mails and FB messages.