Driving a rental car, I made my way to the Crazy Horse Memorial
after I stopped off at Mount Rushmore and paid my respects to
four of America's great presidents. And upon arrival at the
Memorial, I was equally impressed by the gigantic sculpture
of Chief Crazy Horse. The sculptors had been working for
decades, and now the memorial was near completion.
I also stopped to visit the Native American Cultural Center
with its banners of all the great Nations hanging from the
rafters. Lots of information to be found there, including a great
bookstore! While in the bookstore I got to talking with one of
the Sioux who worked there. We talked about the environment,
about God's good Creation. During the conversation he made
mention a Sioux spiritual teacher who taught at the Center's
adjacent college dedicated to the study of Native American
Culture. Her name was Sarah Shining Water, and she lived
in Rosebud Reservation. After more conversation, this good
gentleman suggested that I might like to meet Sarah.
I was very open to the idea, so we walked over to the Center's
college, found Sarah's office, knocked on the door, and luckily
found her. After introductions, she invited me to spend some
time conversing.
During the course of the conversation, I discovered that she
was the author of numerous books about the Spirituality of the
American Indian--and more especially, she had related much
of this Spirituality with what we call Eco-Spirituality. So it came
as no surprise that I suddenly issued an invitation to her, to
come and teach a special course at the Millennial Monastery
California.
While driving back to Rapid City, I realized how significant this
reoccurring dream was. I recognized that the dream had come
as a gift, if you will.
To push forward some--over time, Sarah did visit our monastery
numerous occasions throughout the century. Together we crafted
a special retreat presentation that she would provide periodically.
Our guests truly enjoyed her special wisdom--as did I--and Brother
Philip especially valued her presence whenever she came to
teach. And Sarah proved to be a gift for me, in that she became
a lifelong friend!
No comments:
Post a Comment