North by Northwest

The flower bloomed before theology.

The river flowed before philosophy.

The geese crossed the sky before psychology.

And yet somehow we are part of the same unfolding.

Not above it.

I begin this morning in sincerity, my breath joining all breath,

my heart opening to the field where all hearts rise.

As the day awakens, I awaken

Gently—softening, lengthening, settling.

I honor the Fields holding all worlds upright.

Let me walk the path of openness,

not the path shaped by fear and shadows.

One step—faithful, enough.

My breath guides me toward what holds together,

away from what scatters my heart and mind.

When fear rises—my breath steadies me.

When shame whispers—I remember:

I have walked honestly.

When urgency presses—I slow.

When regret speaks—it teaches me

what I need to know.

When the path is not yet clear,

I wait for what is real to take shape.

Through my breath, I join the weaving of my life.

I praise the order living within chaos.

My gratitude lives in each breath—

breath in, grounding.

breath out, release

I take refuge in awareness—in presence.

The quiet, steady peace beneath thought,

beneath feeling.

The quiet that keeps me from harm,

from confusion, from envy,

from the restless whisper

of old wounds.

MASTER OF LIFE,

Weaver of all that emerges from the great mystery—

You have brought me to a threshold.

It is right to feel the weight of crossing.

You have set before me the next step.

the ground on which to place my life.

I do not have to understand the pattern of

my whole journey today.

For now—I am here, here I am.

I am held. This is real. I am here.

Today—I am here, here I am.

I am held. This is real. I am here.

Soon—We are there, there we are.

We are held. This is real.

This step is heavy. because it matters,

and because I carry what I love—

the mountains,

the river,

the geese,

the trees,

all that I see.

What I have loved,

I do not lose.

It changes form and travels with me.

I will carry only what is mine to carry today.

The rest can wait its turn.

Prepare the place where I will land,

I will walk toward it.

Return me to presence, to clarity, to the quiet honesty,

Of belonging with all my relations.

 (Turn head to the right)

Peace and mercy upon all my relations—

(Turn head to the left, repeat,)

Peace and mercy upon all my relations—

(face forward) –

Peace and mercy to the seen, to the unseen,

to the other-than-human world that makes my life possible.

Let it be.......

Let it be.......

I find the concept to be both absurd and racially motivated.

As a person of both American Indian and Euro-American heritage, I struggle with the idea of denying citizenship to any part of my identity. It seems that, on the surface, my Native identity is the only aspect that truly belongs in America.

If we follow this logic, nearly everyone in Congress should be sent back to Europe or wherever their ancestors came from after 1492, and some of them, including the President, Vice President, and the Speaker of the House, don't even trace their lineage to the nation's founding.

My people have been here 13,000 years.

Now let the Racist rants begin.