Vision, Love, and Song

Every one of the great Wisdom Traditions of humanity gives the faithful a vision to hold,

and a way to live that honors and expresses that vision.

Today I would like to share three quotations by Native Americans which eloquently describe

what vision, love, and song mean to them.

I know that for me, having a vision that shapes my life and opens my heart and eyes is crucial.

So, of course, is love.

And for me, a day that goes by without singing a song (or many!) is a day that lacks vision and love.

I am grateful for the ancient wisdom in these Native American words about the importance of all three.

The Native vision, the gift of seeing truly, with wonder and delight

into the natural world, is informed by a certain attitude of reverence and respect.

It is a matter of extrasensory as well as sensory perception.

In addition to the eye, it involves the intelligence, the instinct, and the imagination.

It is the perception not only of objects and forms, but also of essences and ideals.

(N. Scott Momaday, Kiowa)

My friends, how desperately do we need to be loved and to love.

Love is something you and I must have.

We must have it because our spirit feeds upon it.

We must have it because without it we become weak and faint.

Without love our self esteem weakens.

Without it our courage fails.

Without love we can no longer look out confidently at the world.

We turn inward and begin to feed upon our own personalities,

and little by little we destroy ourselves.

With love, we are creative.

With love we march tirelessly.

With love, and with it alone, we are able to sacrifice for others.

(Chief Dan George, Coast Salish)

My breath--this is what I call my song,

for it is just as necessary to me to sing as it is to me to breathe.

I will sing this song, a song that is strong.

Songs are thoughts, sung out with the breath when people are moved by great forces

and ordinary speech no longer suffices.

People are moved just like the ice floe sailing here and there out in the current.

Their thoughts are driven by a flowing force when they feel joy,

when they feel sorrow.

Thoughts can wash over them like a flood,

making their breath come in gasps.

It may be that when we think we are small, we will fear to use words.

But it will happen that the words we need will come of themselves.

When the words we want to use shoot up of themselves,

we get a new song.

(Orpingalik, Netsilingmute)

My response:

Great Mystery, Beautiful Singer of all creation, and all our lives:

I am Your song, and I want to let that song sing through my heart, my thoughts, my words,

to strengthen me, to guide me, and when needed, to bring what is needed to others who may listen.

May my songs be songs that come from love, and bring love to others and the world.

May I sing my way through each day, and in the darkness of the night.

May Your vision find it's way into my songs, and into my living.

May I see myself, and others, and all of creation, as You do.

May I become aware of the essences and ideals in everything I behold.

Amen.