8 Ps

Dancing on Indigenous Sunday
at Inner City Pastoral Ministry

Though Jesus is a wonderful person of the Trinity, I often feel like his followers, in getting tied up in
arguments about sin and redemption more than emphasizing hope and love, have really messed things up at times.

So whenever Michelle, our Oskapewis (Elder's helper) speaks at the Community of Emmanuel of Inner City Pastoral Ministry on Sunday mornings, I usually find a deep wisdom in the Indigenous teachings she shares.

On Indigenous Sunday, she spoke beautifully about 8 Ps Creator gives us to help us along. Her words touched me deeply, so I asked if she would mind me sharing her teaching. Though I didn't get to these moodlings in time for National Indigenous Day yesterday, I will leave them here to mark Indigenous History Month. 

If we could celebrate Indigenous History by remembering and practicing these 8 Ps, maybe it would help truth and reconciliation to become more of a reality for our country:

The first P is Creator's Promise. That Promise being that Creator will always love us, and never leave us. No matter what.

The second P is Peace. If we can hold Creator's promise close to us always, we will be peaceful people who know that we are loved and cared for. The antithesis to peace is fear and anger, and Creator's promise is their best antidote!

The third P is Prayer. If we can talk to Creator daily, and listen for Creator's response in silence, in the words of those around us, that is the prayer that helps us to develop a relationship that continually reminds us of the first P, and holds us in the second.

The fourth P is Purpose. In knowing Creator well, and understanding that Creator wants good for all our relations, we can discover what we are called to do to create that good for all, moving out of selfishness and self-destruction to love and service of Mother Earth and all her children.

The fifth P is Pain. Creator allows pain in the world because we learn more from our mistakes than our successes. Creator doesn't want us to live in pain for long, though... just long enough to learn and to find a better path forward.

So Creator gives us the sixth P, Perseverance. It helps us to work through the difficult things that happen in every life, and it comes to us through the encouragement of others around us, and through the strength that Creator gives every being, the spark of life that is in each of us.

The seventh P is Patience, a very important gift that we all need, especially when we make mistakes and get down on ourselves. Creator's patience with us is endless, and we need to have Creator's patience with ourselves when it seems like we can't fix things on our own. We need to keep reaching out for help.

And that leads us to the eighth P, which closes the circle by bringing us back to Creator's Promise. All the Ps are single parts of our journey as people, but Creator's promise is also part of all the other Ps. Whichever P we might experience on a given day, it always comes with Creator's unconditional love and refusal to abandon us. That's the bottom line.

And it sounds just like what Jesus was telling us about God all through the gospels. Not sin and redemption, but God who is with us, no matter what. Except Indigenous teachings have been around a lot longer than Jesus has.

I hold both in my heart now, and offer this moodling for you to do the same.

Happy Indigenous History Month!