Make a New Year resolution to ’spend time with a Native Elder.’ There can be no value placed on the teachings of our elders. It will feed your mind, your soul, your creativity, your very being and what they pass on to you will multiply. The wisdom of great teachers is that they let those who seek knowledge find them. Native Elders do not need to seek pupils. It is our task -and our duty- to seek out and find our teacher(s), and the journey in search of our teacher(s) is most times part of the lesson. How can we know what we need to learn if we continually allow others to determine our lessons and our gifts for us. Elders add such texture and richness to our lives. And regardless of where we may be, there are always Elders to be found.
Nature teaches us simultaneously through all of our senses and we can learn much from nature. But it would be of great benefit to also seek out the deep knowledge and wisdom we could acquire from our Elders, who are solidly rooted in the old ways and can teach us how to live in better harmony with nature. Our Elders have wisdom that spans so much living. We lose perspective by limiting ourselves to one or two generational living. If we do not seek out their teachings, the teachings are lost forever. Seek and preserve what must be passed on for the good of all. Absorb all you can while the option is yours. What you learn and do in your life (or do not learn or do…) will affect a minimum of three generations. The wisdom we gain on our journey will be mulipled many times over when we assume our role as Elder and share the teachings that were shared with us. This is why they call it a ‘living heritage.’
I challenge you… find your teacher(s) in the new year.
Black Elk, Oglala Sioux holy man
