Beside Restful Waters

“To know humility is to first of all acknowledge that there is a Higher Power.”

Dave Courchene: Elder of the First Nations People of Canada

To paraphrase Fr. Richard Rohr: Asking for help is the deepest expression of spirituality, as it is my expression that there is one greater than myself. Both Fr. Rohr and Mr. Courchene express the same principle. Mr. Courchene lives the Native American teachings of the Anishinaabe peoples. Fr. Rohr lives the teachings of the Roman Catholic church.

The teachings are the same: Humility is the expression that there is a power greater than myself.

How do you express humility?

Every gift and talent I possess is wasted until I share it with others. When I offer my gifts in service to others, I begin to know myself. I begin to know my need for and my relationship with all of creation. As this knowledge evolves, I am transformed from a selfish individual to a living member of society, and of Creation.

We search through religions. We dig through mountains of books. We try varieties of ceremonies. We spend lots and lots of money as we search. In the end, we end up inside our selves coming to know what we are searching for. Once found, we are amid others as we share our knowledge of self.

Hmmmmmmmm?

You know I have pondered this reality over and over. Yet, again this week, I heard Mr. Courchene repeat this teaching as I have heard him dozens of times in the past. This week, this simple teaching had a profound impact, again. So, I share the simple truth: look inside to find all we need. Then share it to acknowledge our beauty.

We are all we need.

Namaste’