Bear's Den: "Without Maintenance 'Spiritual Values' May Become 'Valueless'"
David Walks-As-Bear
October 21, 2009
Chief Alan Wilson, Haida
This quote, above, from a Haida Indian is one that I agree with, surely. It's akin to the fact that if you are Right with God, the Creator... then you are alright – period. But, taken as it is it may be misleading. That´s because there is, as always... a qualifier. You can be right in your spiritual values and still... miss something important, spiritually… that will put you in conflict, eh. Just as there are many ways to skin a cat, evil has many ways to find your spiritual weakness, too. Watchemene-tu (the great bad spirit aka: the devil) sure found mine. This is his only work…and he truly loves his job – he loves it. Uh-huh, and in a troubled economy such as ours, we should give him the pink slip – don´t´cha think?
Unity, or anything else of vital sacred nature will be hard to acquire if the walls of a two-legged´s spiritual fortress is frail in some aspect. Like the cells in the biological body, spirituality must always be building; renewing, getting stronger, or its host… is susceptible to life-threatening ills. Sure, and one form of this potency is wisdom. It is often seen in the old ones, regardless of color or creed. The white Pentecostal delves deeper into the Bible as they get older. The black Baptist seems more like "John", the religion´s namesake, as gray comes on. The brown Catholic appears to attend Mass more often as crow´s feet take perch. So it is with all religions, everywhere – Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Mormons, Hindus, Jews, Muslims and all other faithfuls, too. Now, a traditional American Indian is a spiritual being to begin with, so, as we age, we simply become more "Indian" all of the time. Um-hmm, and this religious growth for the older set is, to my notion, simply… plain, old wisdom.
Now, the way I figure it, wisdom is nothing more than the accumulated learning of life. Whether taught, or ´learned the hard way´, it is these lessons that make-up wisdom. That is why older two-leggeds, if they´ve gained any wisdom, are leaning ever more toward spirituality as they age. It is not, as many believe, because they´re getting close to life´s end – no. It is, absolutely, because life has taught them that God… is the only good thing that is a constant. Yep, and I know that what I´ll add next will tick some folks off, too. But, that´s kind´a too bad. You can have your opinion and I can have mine. You bet´cha, and mine is that I figure that any person, especially those that are long of tooth, who isn´t trying to grow closer to the Creator, hasn´t learned much in their time upon the Earth Mother. Yep, folks that are not pursuing their faith are far from being wise, or… at the very least, are extremely slow learners. And, man, those that profess atheism… are just down-right simpler than a newborn – period. Sorry, but that´s my firm belief, and like it or not – I´m sticking to it.
Now, to my mind, spirituality is similar to making out your Christmas list. It requires lots of thought, all of the time, right up to the end of the holiday event. With gift giving, you ponder everything about what you will give, weighing this, and weighing that, considering it all, eh. This constant thinking on spirituality, right up until the end of this life event, is much the same. It is as much a spiritual value as the art of prayer is for the two-legged. And thus, I know that without this constant ´spiritual checking´, then, eventually, you can probably kiss many good things goodbye, including unity. That´s because one chink in a two-legged´s spiritual armor is all that´s needed for an evil spear point to wedge itself in to pierce the human soul. Yes´sir, and I have a personal and recent qualifier that I can note for an example, too.
As a two-legged, I fear little upon the Earth Mother – certainly neither man nor beast. Until two years ago, it had been this way for at least the 25 years previous. That´s because my spiritual values... were as solid as a rock. I was 'Right with the Master of Life', and knew that, should I die, I would be as okay as I ever could be. This remains true today. But, about two years ago, my wife, a perfectly healthy and vibrant woman – far healthier than I was – was suddenly stricken with leukemia from out of the blue. And, it was then, instantaneously... that I felt true, unbridled terror, which coincided with my personal form of spiritual conflict. While I never once questioned the Creator´s plan – He always knows what He is doing – I was at a loss as to what I could do, and, thus, severely spiritually conflicted.
By way of explanation, I work an occasionally dangerous job. As such, I always assumed that... barring some car accident or other instantaneous calamity that might occur... I, and not neewa (my wife), would be the first to pass from this life. But, then the catastrophic disease struck her, and I... a two-legged, strong in my spiritual values... was totally unprepared. Just as suddenly, I was at an utter and complete loss as to what to do, how to fight. I swear, I never once "thought" of this possibility. As a Kispoko Shawnee, I am a warrior – it is my sept and – who I am. But, I could not get my hands on this enemy, leukemia, to kill it, and there seemed nothing I could do – no way to wage war. I knew not who to do battle with, and this, plus the fear of the loss of my wife, brought me totally to my knees. Fear... quickly and ferociously… began eating and shredding my soul.
Watchemene-tu (the great bad one), had seen his opportunity and had unleashed his gichi-sheg-shiah wi-sis (terror dogs) onto me. I could feel them riding my shoulders, their unseen fanged teeth gnashing and ripping at my neck, day-in and day-out. I was no good to my wife, my kids or my family because this fear paralyzed me. I needed to be strong to fight for her – not debilitated. But my wife, who is equally at one with the Great Good Spirit, helped me to get a hold. She, and others, taught me to rely on faith in a way... I had never done before. Yes, and before long, I had defeated the terror dogs. They ran away, licking the spiritual wounds that I had inflicted on them, squealing like the worthless mutts that they are. By the grace of The Great Mystery, help from my wife and of prayers of thousands of others, I found something that had been amiss within my spirituality. Most certainly… it could have gone differently, eh – it easily could have. So, I, a elene (man) of strong, personal spirituality had missed an important aspect of my faith – constant checking. I was nowhere near as strong in my spirituality as I thought I was – nowhere near.
So, all of this is my way of agreeing with this Haida Chief, while adding that a qualifier in regard to possessing strong spiritual values... almost always exists. Two-leggeds must always be searching and seeking within their spirituality, to eliminate weakness, or the unity this Chief speaks of will never come to be. Spiritual values, without strength, are valueless. No matter what – no matter whom – the weakness can and will be there. It is this chink in a two-legged´s faith, whatever it may be, which equals weakness. It must be constantly sought. I figure that it will probably be different for everyone. But, trust that weakness is there, in some form or fashion, to some degree, eh. Trust, as well, that you can fix it by constantly searching within your spirit. And last, but certainly not least, trust POSITIVELY that the Watchemene-tu (the bad one) will definitely find and exploit it. It is his job, and I swear... he truly loves his work. Yep, and in a troubled economy such as ours, we should give him the pink slip – don´t´cha think?
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David Walks-As-Bear is an Inter-Tribal Elder and Kispoko Shawnee Indian. He works as a private game warden and detective and is a novelist and syndicated newspaper columnist living in Northwest Michigan. Contact him at The White Lake Beacon: 231-894-5356 or visit his website at: www.Walks-As-Bear.com
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