In our language there is no word to say inferior or superiority or equality because we are equal; it's a known fact. But life has become very complicated since the newcomers came here. And how does your spirit react to it? It's painful. You have to be strong to walk through the storm. I know I'm a bridge between two worlds. All I ask is for people to wash their feet before they try to walk on me.
I think the spiritual values come first and everything else follows. To properly develop, the human being needs to learn the guiding principles. It is from these principles that we make our decisions. Spiritual values are the guiding principles given to us by the Great Spirit. He says if we live by these spiritual values, the results we experience will be good. These spiritual values will develop and guide the human being by helping us to think right. Right thinking will improve our choices and decisions. Doing this will bring good consequences. Great Spirit, teach me values first. The first day of fall brings with it the promise of quiet and peace. A stillness permeates the woods and about the only sounds are woodpeckers drumming on a hollow tree and blue jays squawking at squirrels they cannot tolerate. A sweet peace that connects with us and helps us relax. The hills are rose-beige and rounded on top with horses grazing quietly along the sides. Deep ravines where water has eroded the dirt are dark marks such as a child would make with a crayon, and most likely have housed a bobcat or two. This is the season when we do not hunker down and endure but we enjoy to the utmost. The color, the fresh air, the fall fruit and vegetables and smell of earth turned up by the plow. If something is not right, fix it, and don't let this pleasant time go to waste! Like attracts like. If we give up, so will others. If we cry, so will they. But if we decide this is a new beginning, others will take courage. We influence other people. Our attitudes send out ripples of feeling - like the scent of flowers that floats on air currents. What we think and say sets the stage for what is to happen. We can change our minds, our words, our attitudes, and we stop crying. We act like our prayers are already answered and take steps to show we believe it. When the early morning sun breaks through the far side of the woods, the dark places are lighted and much healing takes place. And so it is with us. ~ Great Spirit, you lived first, and you are older than all need. ~Words of BLACK ELK
