Sunday, October 11, 2020
This is what we gringos call Columbus Day; for Latinos, it is El Dia de la Raza – the day of the race – commemorating the day that Columbus landed on the island of Hispaniola, or as one historian called the single most important historical event in human history. An overstatement? Perhaps. But what followed as Europeans came onto this soil can be described as an unmitigated disaster for the native peoples who lived here.
Fast forward little more than 500 years and native peoples are still treated as obstacles to the greed of oil, gas, and mining interests, depicted as either curiosities or savages, and not respected for the complexity of their culture and their respect for the earth.
Many native peoples living on reservations suffer from a lack of infrastructure, potable water, and the basic services we take for granted. They are also dying at a higher rate from Covid-19 than the rest of the population in the United States.
Prayer for the Day
Creating and sustaining God, whose spirit stirred over the waters,
You who created light and life, move among us, we pray,
And bathe our withered spirits in your living waters.
May we listen for your word in the language of the spheres,
Awakening our souls to your spirit in the world around us
As we are called to do by the One who shows us a new way to live,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Teach your children what we have taught our children: that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth, befalls the children of the earth. If we spit upon the ground we spit upon ourselves. This we know. The earth does not belong to us; we belong to the earth.
Chief Seattle, Suquamish and Duwamish tribes (1786–1866)
In Iroquois society leaders are encouraged to remember seven generations in the past and consider seven generations in the future when making decisions that affect the people.
Wilma Mankiller, first female chief of the Cherokee Nation (1945–2010)
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.
Psalm 51:10–12