Post details: For Jason

07/27/07

Permalink 03:41:12 am, Categories: By Pam
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For Jason

I have a friend named, Quoo-Quoo-eee, translated, Of The Spirit. Her legal name is, Laura but when I say, Laura I think, Quoo-Quoo-eee. Though I have not seen her nor spoken to her in several years, I think of her very often and when I think of her, I know she also thinks of me. I know this for she told me that is the way it would always be for our friendship is bound in spirit and is not one of duty or obligation and not limited by time.

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I met Laura when I was sixteen and struggling to live on my own. I was working as a hotel maid and I met her in the elevator. She said that I was the first white person she had ever met that did not tell her immediately upon introduction that I was part Cherokee. Because of this and the fact that I was often hungry, she and her family took me to themselves and loved me in a way that I had never been loved before.

Laura and her family lived at Tamaya, renamed by the Spaniards, Santa Anna Pueblo; one of their 'Seven Cities of Gold'. When I hear, Santa Anna, I think Tamaya, and deeper within myself, The People. As with all of the original people of New Mexico, the people of Santa Anna always refer to themselves and their home, simply, as The People. It was through these good and simple people that Jesus first began to reveal Himself to me.

I could not live at Tamaya for I was not Tamaya but I was aloud to visit very often and stay for extended periods of time. I actually visited more than I lived in my apartment and it was when I was with Laura and her family that I felt that I was at home. I was a rebellious and wild little girl but they took me in and civilized me.

I didn't know Jesus, at this time, and had no religious training. I did not understand culture, tradition, or faith. Tamaya was my first exposure to all three and what I learned during my time with them forever changed me. When I did come to Christ and started reading the Bible, the examples of what I read there often evoked, and still evoke, memories of my Indian family.

When I read or remember, "What-so-ever you eat or drink, to all to the glory of God." I think of meal-time with Laura and her family. First we would each break off a small piece of the same tortilla and then the first dish would be passed. After that dish had been enjoyed, we would all break off a second piece of tortilla to be enjoyed with the second dish. Everything we did at the table had meaning and even though I still don't know all the nuance of their intricate table manners, their was no denying the spirit of honor that was very present a mealtime and the joy of gathering there.

They had very little money but they were always willing to share and not ashamed of poverty and would not even recognize poverty but taught me that they were happy with what they had. Laura's mom did not speak English but her smile was always loving acceptance of me and when she scolded me, I did not understand the words but I surely knew the intent and I knew that scolding came from the same place as those loving smiles. Through Laura, she taught me proverbs such as, "Beware of those who bring filth and poverty upon their tongues." She let me take part in preparing for their annual feasts and taught me that we were not to count the number of loaves of bread that we prepared but that only the Great Spirit knew how many would come. We made bread until the spirit told her to stop. This is what I think of when I read in scripture that we are to follow the Spirit. They taught me what it is to move according to God and not according to ourselves in even the simplest of actions.

As a child, Laura had been forced to go to the boarding school in Santa Fe. She would cry and tell me of her misery there and how she missed her grandfather. She ran away several times and hitchhiked back home to be with him. The school was Catholic and they attempted to strip her of her own culture and force Catholocism on her but she resisted. Later, she did accept Christ (at that time, a mystery to me) but it was because she could see Who Jesus is and not because of anything the Catholics taught her or attempted to force on her. Neither did she see any conflict between her own culture and Christ and neither do I. Matter of fact, I see much more of Christ in the culture of Tamaya than in my own. God has revealed Himself to them in nature and Laura recognized the Great Spirit in Jesus. Paul taught that those who come to Christ who are not Jewish should only keep themselves from idols, from eating things that are strangled, from drinking blood, and from sexual immorality. I never saw Laura or her family participate in any of those things before she accepted Christ let alone afterward.

After reading your blog and watching your video, I have been sad and vexed. It is not the church that has hurt Laura and your people but instead this evil has been perpetrated by an institution that is false in its portrayal of itself. Jason, when your or I discuss Jesus and our faith and our love for Him, we are the church gathered in His Name. We are bound by His blood, shed for us and brought together in His Spirit, unified in Christ. You are my true brother as Laura is my true sister for those who seek to do the Will of God are my brothers and sisters. It is my brothers and sisters in Christ that are the church and not any institution. We are His called out company. The men in black are of another calling. I do not judge them but I do judge their works.

I have written this at the Lord's leading in honor of the original people of North America. A people whom Jesus loves very much and never excludes or mistreats. A people whom God used mightly in my life. Those who mourn will laugh, Jason and the meek shall inherit the earth. All will be made equal in Christ. In Him only is there hope and that hope is there for all.

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