NativeAmerican Prayer
Great Spirit of Love, come to me with the power of the North.
Make me courageous when the cold winds of life fall upon me.
Give me strength and endurance for everything that is harsh,
everything that hurts, everything that makes me squint.
May I move through life ready to take what comes from the North.
Spirit who comes out of the East,
come to me with the power of the rising sun.
Let there be light in my world. Let there be light on the path that I walk.
Let me remember always that You give the gift of a new day.
Never let me be burdened with sorrow by not starting afresh.
(from "God Makes the Rivers to Flow" by Eknath Easwaran)
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Native American Wisdom is creation centered spirituality.
The "medicine wheel" is a sacred circle which honors what Black Elk calls the Sacred Hoop.
Native American prayer honors the spirits of the four directions:north, east, south, west.
You and I are at the center of the medicine wheel, no matter where we are. Below us is Mother Earth, above us is Father Sky, around us are the four directions. Sometimes they are called the four winds. And along with them go the four elements which make up creation; earth, fire, water, and air. The four directions also symbolize the four times of each day which are good for stopping to pray; Sunrise, High Noon, Sunset, and Night.
The prayer above comes from the heart. Native Americans pray from the heart, not from
written prayers. You and I can go out in nature, and sense the special feeling, virtues, and power of each direction and element for ourselves, and prayer in our own words from the heart. I think of this as Blessing Prayer. I face each direction, receive a blessing, and resolve to offer the blessing as a gift for "all my relations," which includes the world and everyone/thing in it. I recommend you try it for yourself to experience the blessing of this way of reverent creation-centered prayer.
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