Doers of the Word
Sunday, Aug 23rd
Who can ever know what is in the Lord’s mind? Or who can ever give him advice? Has anyone ever given anything to God, so that God has to pay him back? This story happened a few weeks after 9/11:
A group had gone to visit the Acoma Pueblo, on a high mesa just east of Albuquerque. Its residents, who still honor the old ways and traditions, call it Sky City. After their tour of the pueblo, some of the visitors lingered to buy the pottery or bread that some of the Sky City community were selling. They began to talk to one of the elders sitting in front of his house about the events of 9/11. They asked him, “How did you hear about the news that day?” He answered, “We found out just like you did,” and pulled out his cell phone. Everyone laughed because there is no running water or electricity up on the top of the mesa. Then the elder grew silent and looked at the group, all of whom were intently listening to him now. He said: “I’m so sorry. I apologize. It was our fault. It was all our fault.” No one knew what the man meant, or how to respond. He realized they did not understand him, so he said again: “I am so sorry. We all are. It was – it is our fault. You see, we believe that we are all one. We have a saying that is sometimes translated as: ‘all our relations’ – it means that we are all one – everything and everyone created: birds, fish, animals, four-legged, two-legged, all human beings everywhere in the world. And we are responsible for each other and what others do. So, it is our fault. We have not lived as we should. If we were living as human beings, other human beings would not be driven to do such terrible things. They would not be without hope, and filled with so much despair. We are sorry, please forgive us. It is our fault that it happened.” His words left everyone in the group speechless, and they wandered off awkwardly to buy their fry bread or pottery, and to walk or take their tour bus back down the mesa.
The Kingdom of Heaven is about relationships, forgiveness, communion, community, reconciliation. These are the keys to the Kingdom. The Lord’s Prayer clues us in also. “Your Will on earth as it is in Heaven.”