Manning the Lifeboat - Lent 2020
Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2
I am an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation. I was reared in the suburbs of St. Louis and, like most Native Americans today, spent my time in urban areas. There are no reservations in my home state of Missouri. The closest one, according to Google Maps, is the Prairie Band Potawatomi Indian Reservation in Kansas, a little over a five-hour drive away.
From the outside, my life seemed healthy growing up. My father did not speak English until he was eight years old, (his parents spoke Cherokee at home in Oklahoma). He graduated from college and, after teaching art at Haskell Indian Nations University, ended up in St. Louis where he worked as the Art Director for the Sporting News.
My family attended church. Easter, we would often go to sunrise services. We lived in a house with a picket fence.
My father was handsome, talented, and held an excellent professional position. But like many Native Americans, he was broken on the inside. He was an addictive gambler.
People who have no sense of worth will make decisions differently than those who have a positive sense of self-value. Even if they look okay on the outside, the brokenness inside will change the way you live.
Some of you reading this came from generations of firm believers. I call that an “ark,” placed on the path of God by the steadfastness of your ancestors, just as we, descendants of Noah, were rescued from the flood by the faith of Noah.
We must remember, however, that most of the world is drowning, and it is our job to reach out to those slipping under the water. With a strong boat under our feet - the sturdy boat is the Good News of the Resurrection – we have been given the opportunity, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to help our Native brothers and sisters find the saving grace of God.
Lord, may your great love for us spread gloriously, like a spring sunrise, over the dark horizon of those lost souls in Indian Country. In Jesus' name, Amen.