Monday February 22, 2021
One of our smallest minorities is also the oldest. Native Americans today are only 2% of the population, yet they inhabited this land for thousands of years before any of our ancestors arrived. There is much to repent in our treatment, and there is much to be hopeful for as the first Native American is poised to become Interior Department head.
Deb Haaland, a Laguna Pueblo, is opposed by mining and oil interests, because she has pledged to hold tribal integrity and the protection of God’s creation above the greed that the exploiters represent.
The Interior Department runs the Bureau of Indian Affairs which has been plagued with mismanagement, the “reallocation” of funds from such vital areas as the Indian Health Service resulting in high Covid infection and mortality rates. Repenting of our past treatment of Native Americans means being honest about our sins of the past and meeting their needs for the future.
Prayer for the Day
We confess we are not always ready to hear you, O God,
For you disturb us when we want comfort and tranquility;
You confront us with our past actions we want to forget,
And upset us when we want forgiveness without change.
Awaken us, O God, so we find you where we least expect:
In the eyes of the marginalized and those whom we have neglected
We ask this in the name of him who embodies your Spirit,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen
Thoughts for the Day
My people are few. They resemble the scattering trees of a storm-swept plain...There was a time when our people covered the land as the waves of a wind-ruffled sea cover its shell-paved floor, but that time long since passed away with the greatness of tribes that are now but a mournful memory.
- Chief Seattle, Suquamish and Duwamish chief (1786-1866)
In Iroquois society, leaders are encouraged to remember the seven generations in the past and to consider the seven generations in the future when making decisions for the people
- Wilma Mankiller, President of the Cherokee Nation
Who can utter the mighty doings of the Lord, or declare God’s praise?
Happy are those who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times.
Psalm 106: 3-4