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When I was teaching a high school course about History of the American West, (some students called it "Cowboys and Indians") I was always struck with the similarity of some of the religious views of the Plains Indians' tribes about their Great Spirit, our Christian views about God and the human relationships within both groups. Both cultures viewed humans as children of God, often imperfect and always seeking support from a higher power to improve themselves. Despite historians' recent analysis of the history of the American West as a time and place of cultural conflict, some cultural ideals and practices were remarkably similar.
A recent visit by Pope Paul II to St. Louis, Missouri and his sermons, while here, brought to the forefront this notion of similarity of cultural and religious images and ideals. All religions point to God, Paul seemed to be saying. In that spirit, the following Sioux Indian Prayer is offered to you to reflect upon as you enter the season of Lent. May it enrich your Christian spirit and thoughts as it did me in this Lenten season.
Sioux Indian Prayer
O Great Spirit,
Whose voice I hear in the winds,
And whose breath gives life to all the world,
hear me! I am small and weak. I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes
ever behold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have
made and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Let me learn the lessons you have hidden
in every leaf and rock.
I seek strength, not to be greater than my
brother, but to fight my greatest enemy---myself.
Make me always ready to come to you with
clean hands and straight eyes.
So when my life fades, as the fading sunset,
my spirit may come to you without shame.
(Book mark from the Sioux Indian children of the Red Cloud Indian School, Pine Ridge, South Dakota. 1989)
Reprinted with permission from St. Mark Presbyterian Lenten Devotional 1999
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