There is a wonderful native American tale told in the Ken Burns series,
The West. Seven siblings are playing. Six girls and one boy. The boy pretends
he’s a bear chasing the girls and they pretend to be afraid. Then the boy
actually becomes a bear and the girls are then actually frightened. They run
past a tree, and the tree tells them to climb up, that it will keep them safe.
The girls climb into the tree. The bear claws all the bark off the base of the
tree. But the tree only rises higher carrying the girls into the sky until they
become stars in the Big Dipper.
The greatest lessons in life always bring us back to nature, to the land
and the sky, to the place of our origin.
What happens when our peers, our protectors, turn against us? We run to
the safety of what we instinctively know to be good and right. We go into the
arms of nature, to what we can see and feel. And, we also go into the mystery
of the spirit world, into what we know deep inside us is of authentic value.
There is nobility in nature. It exists by rules and laws of forces
greater than our own. It faithfully follows cycles and seasons, and that
acceptance creates beauty and wonder, stability and anchoring.
This is missing in the world around us today. It is missing in our government,
in our churches, in our workplaces, and in some instances in our families.
To our peril, we are not listening to the calls that direct us to
safety. We have lost our way, being chased by violent, vicious forces that want
to destroy the unity of our republic, forces that have taken our most precious
freedoms and values and sullied them with selfishness, injustice; defying our basic
laws and making a mockery of our system of governance.
Our leaders lack nobility. Honor. They have little respect for themselves or others. Our protectors have turned on us, betraying the trust
we gave them to be responsible for the security of our nation, for the order of
society. We have no asylum of protection. The traditional institutions are
failing us. We’re being chased by bears.
And yet, nature beckons. It is always there to remind us of the
elemental forces of not only our world but of ourselves. In nature, we find the
resources for our protection. It shows us beauty, the flowering of life, the
cycles of growth and yes, the seasons of birth and death.
If we observe, if we listen, we can see and hear and sense the potency of
our potential to survive. And more, to abound, to succeed, to soar to heights
of purpose and meaning.
Einstein said, “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand
everything better.”
It is wise counsel.
We need steady, stalwart, dependable leaders in the
possession of character, conscience, moral standards, and integrity; and we need productive citizens with insight and courage if our
society is to survive the chasing bears.
Someone has humorously said, “Revenge sounds so mean, that’s why I
prefer to call it, returning the favor.”
We know there is nothing funny about getting back at people. But that
seems to be the operating philosophy today. We cannot, though, as a society, as
a people, survive that kind of chasing bear.
Let us return to the wonders of nature, to learn the lessons of our innate
strengths, to feel again the power of forces that hold us in safety, the values
that have always guided us to rise above the chasing bears until we become
stars in the Big Dipper.
© 2019 Timothy Moody
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