Ways of Knowing<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grandmother God<\/strong>\nWednesday, February 12, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>Since first working at Acoma Pueblo as a deacon in 1969\nand making my permanent home in New Mexico in 1986, I have learned much from\nour Native American pueblos and tribes. I encourage you to learn about the\nhistory surrounding your home. [1] Settler colonial\u2014and primarily\nChristian\u2014countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, and South Africa\ntried to destroy or at least seriously marginalize indigenous cultures. This\nnow seems undeniable. Yet indigenous people and their practices persist, opening\nbody and heart to deep wisdom. Today\u2019s meditation introduces Steven Charleston,\nan elder of the Choctaw Nation and a retired Episcopal bishop. His way of\nknowing God and the Gospel reflect both his Christian and Choctaw heritage and\nhis contemplative practice. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The irony is I\ndid find what I was looking for, but not in the place I expected. In my\nromantic imagination, I believed I would find my answer in a religious ritual\nor ceremony, either Christian or Traditional. I thought the answer might come\nto me high on a hill doing a vision quest, in the womb-like darkness of a Sweat\nLodge, or in a camp meeting out on the prairie. The vision I had from God had\nbeen a little like that; it had surprised me during my ritual of morning\nprayers in Cambridge. But in the end, the answer found me sitting in a chair. I\nhad been reading the gospel according to Matthew, letting the familiar words of\nhis story slip through my mind like a gentle stream, when suddenly the holy\nvoice I had first heard on the rooftop returned and shook me awake in my\nspirit. [2] <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou have just\nread the first vision quest of Jesus.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I smile now\nbecause I can remember scrambling to come awake when those words caught me off\nguard. I consider this voice to be from God because it appears from some place\nother than my own consciousness. It announces itself. It speaks in a clear,\nsimple, uncomplicated way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I have\nattempted to explain this experience to others I have often laughed at myself\nbecause the voice I hear sounds as if it is speaking to a small child. I do not\nreceive long and elaborate messages from God, probably because God is not sure\nI could understand them. Instead, I get the brief, direct words needed by a\nprophet with a short attention span. One of my images of God is that of Grandmother,\nthe wise old Native woman with gray hair and eyes as ancient as the Earth. She\ntakes my face gently in her hands and holds me in Her gaze as She tells me what\nShe thinks I need to know, forming the words slowly so I can remember them and\nlet them sink in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I embrace this feminine\nimage in the same way Hebrew tradition refers to the voice of God as the <em>bat kol<\/em>, the daughter of the\nvoice. It is that mysterious presence that comes from some source beyond, a\ncommunication that defies our ability to categorize. Therefore, like the\ntheologians of ancient Israel, I give the voice a female personification\nbecause I experience it in that way. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ways of Knowing Grandmother God Wednesday, February 12, 2020 Since first working at Acoma Pueblo as a deacon in 1969 and making my permanent home in New Mexico in 1986, I have learned much from our Native American pueblos and tribes. I encourage you to learn about the history surrounding your home. [1] Settler colonial\u2014and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18593"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18593"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18594,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18593\/revisions\/18594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>Since first working at Acoma Pueblo as a deacon in 1969\nand making my permanent home in New Mexico in 1986, I have learned much from\nour Native American pueblos and tribes. I encourage you to learn about the\nhistory surrounding your home. [1] Settler colonial\u2014and primarily\nChristian\u2014countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, and South Africa\ntried to destroy or at least seriously marginalize indigenous cultures. This\nnow seems undeniable. Yet indigenous people and their practices persist, opening\nbody and heart to deep wisdom. Today\u2019s meditation introduces Steven Charleston,\nan elder of the Choctaw Nation and a retired Episcopal bishop. His way of\nknowing God and the Gospel reflect both his Christian and Choctaw heritage and\nhis contemplative practice. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The irony is I\ndid find what I was looking for, but not in the place I expected. In my\nromantic imagination, I believed I would find my answer in a religious ritual\nor ceremony, either Christian or Traditional. I thought the answer might come\nto me high on a hill doing a vision quest, in the womb-like darkness of a Sweat\nLodge, or in a camp meeting out on the prairie. The vision I had from God had\nbeen a little like that; it had surprised me during my ritual of morning\nprayers in Cambridge. But in the end, the answer found me sitting in a chair. I\nhad been reading the gospel according to Matthew, letting the familiar words of\nhis story slip through my mind like a gentle stream, when suddenly the holy\nvoice I had first heard on the rooftop returned and shook me awake in my\nspirit. [2] <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou have just\nread the first vision quest of Jesus.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I smile now\nbecause I can remember scrambling to come awake when those words caught me off\nguard. I consider this voice to be from God because it appears from some place\nother than my own consciousness. It announces itself. It speaks in a clear,\nsimple, uncomplicated way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I have\nattempted to explain this experience to others I have often laughed at myself\nbecause the voice I hear sounds as if it is speaking to a small child. I do not\nreceive long and elaborate messages from God, probably because God is not sure\nI could understand them. Instead, I get the brief, direct words needed by a\nprophet with a short attention span. One of my images of God is that of Grandmother,\nthe wise old Native woman with gray hair and eyes as ancient as the Earth. She\ntakes my face gently in her hands and holds me in Her gaze as She tells me what\nShe thinks I need to know, forming the words slowly so I can remember them and\nlet them sink in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I embrace this feminine\nimage in the same way Hebrew tradition refers to the voice of God as the <em>bat kol<\/em>, the daughter of the\nvoice. It is that mysterious presence that comes from some source beyond, a\ncommunication that defies our ability to categorize. Therefore, like the\ntheologians of ancient Israel, I give the voice a female personification\nbecause I experience it in that way. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ways of Knowing Grandmother God Wednesday, February 12, 2020 Since first working at Acoma Pueblo as a deacon in 1969 and making my permanent home in New Mexico in 1986, I have learned much from our Native American pueblos and tribes. I encourage you to learn about the history surrounding your home. [1] Settler colonial\u2014and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18593"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18593"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18594,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18593\/revisions\/18594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}