As I read the Indigenous Elders Council Statement on Fukushima reflections and comments of others, and held them all in my heart, I began to journey with my memories of travels with elders around the world. I was reminded of an email I received from Diane Longboat, Six Nations Grand River Territory, about a year ago:
"... Unless we come back into right relationship with each other as Nations, reconcile and rebuild, there will be no peace for anyone. There will be no peace for Mother Earth and Her Creatures. We as a human family are out of balance with Natural Law and Spiritual Laws. The ceremonies of Indigenous Nations are more needed now than ever before. As we reconcile as the Living, our Ancestors can reconcile in the High Heavens of the Spirit World. This is our path as human beings. It cannot be overlooked or amended by anything less than ceremonial reconciliation. Everywhere in the Americas, our people are waiting for society, praying for society to awaken to the greater purpose of human life; To live in peace, in the spirit of love, brotherhood, unity with each other and all of creation. Nothing less will please the Creator!!!"
And the honorable Vusamazulu Baba Credo Mutwa, a Zulu traditional healer and High Sanusi from South Africa, a few years ago when he asked a question to a small group of us visiting him in South Africa, from the Worldwide Indigenous Science Network, among the group were Mr. Hale Makua and Auntie Poe Poe, traditional elders, now ancestors, from Hawaii. He asked the question: “What must we do honorable ones? The world is hungry. The world-- is needing our brains. ..Our brains are poisoned by fear. There are certain powers that we have lost honorable ones. How do we get them back and give them to our children?"
As I contemplate from my deep heart space, I must answer the question first in silence, breathing deeply, exhaling long. Breathing in again, I turn inward to reach that space of remembering, remembering to the point of experiencing the unified field of the Creator where everything is intricately connected – so much so that there is no beginning and no end, only ongoing folds of creation. In this place of remembering, I see clearly that everything I do, everything I think and feel, I do to the whole. It is here that I, the collective whole, know that my love of the whole, with Mother Earth at my core, must now hold a greater vision for evolving into “stewardship” of balance and harmony. And, no matter how complicated I try to make it, stewardship of balance and harmony is simply loving all of creation as myself. So to do harm in any direction, externally or internally, is to do harm to the whole. Rooted in this level of awareness, I see clearly. The honesty of my observance demands the expression of my deepest truths – as prayer, as ceremonial participation and as advocacy of this deep truth.
Mr. Makua once said to me, “…The first level of training for a warrior is learning to be a healer.” He said, “A warrior cannot break what he cannot fix.” So in my truth, I must learn. My “eyes and my heart must be opened” so that I can discern when something is in harmony or not. And, when I am clear, I must speak my truth and act in the way the truth demands to restore the balance, the harmony, beginning from the inside out. I must reconnect with the spiritual practices that sustain my balance, my peace; and give me the courage to hold the space of truth with love as we build a unified effort to assist in the healing of Mother Earth and all of life. I must practice compassion so that my “engagement” honors diversity and builds upon the gifts of difference.
Quoting from the Elders, We are the People of the Earth, united under the Creator’s Law with a sacred covenant to protect and a responsibility to extend Life for all future generations. We are expressing
deep concern for our shared future and urge everyone to awaken spiritually. We must work in unity to help Mother Earth heal so that she can bring back balance and harmony for all her children.
We are in this together. I pray that together, we are mindful of how we walk on Mother Earth, mindful of the footprints we leave behind for generations to come.
