The Powwow at the End of the World

BY SHERMAN ALEXIE

I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall   

after an Indian woman puts her shoulder to the Grand Coulee Dam   

and topples it. 

I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall 

after the floodwaters burst each successive dam   

downriver from the Grand Coulee. 

I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall 

after the floodwaters find their way to the mouth of the Columbia River 

as it enters the Pacific and causes all of it to rise. 

I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall 

after the first drop of floodwater is swallowed 

by that salmon waiting in the Pacific. 

I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall   

after that salmon swims upstream, through the mouth of the Columbia   

and then past the flooded cities, broken dams and abandoned reactors   

of Hanford. 

I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall   

after that salmon swims through the mouth of the Spokane River   

as it meets the Columbia, then upstream, until it arrives   

in the shallows of a secret bay on the reservation where I wait alone.   

I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall 

after that salmon leaps into the night air above the water, throws   

a lightning bolt at the brush near my feet, and starts the fire   

which will lead all of the lost Indians home. 

I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall   

after we Indians have gathered around the fire with that salmon   

who has three stories it must tell before sunrise: 

one story will teach us how to pray; 

another story will make us laugh for hours;   

the third story will give us reason to dance. 

I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall 

when I am dancing with my tribe 

during the powwow at the end of the world.

A Sham Argument

James 2:14-26 / Matthew 11:28-30

Someone will say: "You have faith, I have works." (Vs 18)

This unidentified person

has wasted so much time

for Christians.

Debating whether 

the gift of

eternal life rests on 

faith,

works,

or both.

Yes,

God grants 

all who believe

in the saving power

of the Cross

and Resurrection 

eternal life.

But

Jesus gives

to all

who are

born from above,

born again,

saved,

slain in the Lamb

another gift.

The gift of the Holy Spirit.

And that gift 

working 

in a transformed life

will be evidence of  

those who

  will receive the 

reward of

eternal life. 

The sola fide

people

give the impression

 that works 

are a 

checklist to go to heaven.

Instead, it is

God

(in the third person of the Trinity)

working

through

your weaknesses 

so you 

can do His will

on earth. 

The works alone assembly

(a much smaller crowd)

work on their projects

as if they were going submit

their resume 

to the Almighty.

All this talk

of work

and deeds

is making me tired.

Lord,

Thank you for

Your yoke is light.

Walk with me

the rest of 

my days

as I do Your will.

Today on earth

and for eternity

in Paradise. Amen.

“The Vacation”

Wendell Berry

Once there was a man who filmed his vacation.

He went flying down the river in his boat

with his video camera to his eye, making

a moving picture of the moving river

upon which his sleek boat moved swiftly

toward the end of his vacation. He showed

his vacation to his camera, which pictured it,

preserving it forever: the river, the trees,

the sky, the light, the bow of his rushing boat

behind which he stood with his camera

preserving his vacation even as he was having it

so that after he had had it he would still

have it. It would be there. With a flick

of a switch, there it would be. But he

would not be in it. He would never be in it.

That’s what Easter’s all about, Charlie Brown.

Believing in the resurrection 

does not just mean 

assenting to a dogma 

and noting a historical fact. 

It means participating 

in God’s

creative act.

If it were merely 

a historical circumstance, 

we should simply say: 

‘Oh really?’, 

register the fact, 

and go on living 

as we did before.

But if it is a creative act of God’s, then – 

if we really know and understand 

what it is about – 

we shall be born again to a new life. 

A faith like this is the beginning of freedom

Resurrection is not a consoling opium, 

soothing us

with the promise of a better world 

in the hereafter. 

It is the energy 

for a rebirth 

of this life. 

The hope doesn’t point to another world. 

It is focused on the redemption of this one.  

Jurgen Moltmann (Jesus Christ for Today’s World)

The Cast of Christmas Reassembles For Easter

Take the wise men to the Emperor's palace.

Wash their hands in water.  

Get them to say something about truth.

Does anyone know any good Jewish jokes?

The one about a carpenter

who thought he was a King?

The one about the Savior 

who couldn't save himself?

The shepherds should stand with the chorus.

They have a big production number -

'Barabbas, We Love You Baby'.

Mary? She can move to the front.

We have a special section reserved

for family and close friends.

Tell her that we had to cut the manger up.

We needed the wood for something else.

The star I'm afraid I can't use.

There are no stars in this show.

The sky turns black with sorrow.

The earth shakes with terror.

Hold on to the frankincense.

We'll need that for the garden scene.

Angels? He could do with some angels.

Avenging angels.

Merciful angels.

He could really do with some angels.

Baby Jesus.

Step this way please.

My! How you've grown! 

**Steve Turner

A blessing for one who holds power

May the gift of leadership awaken in you as a vocation,
Keep you mindful of the providence that calls you to serve.

As high over the mountains the eagle spreads its wings,
May your perspective be larger than the view from the foothills.

When the way is flat and dull in times of grey endurance,
May your imagination continue to evoke horizons.

When thirst burns in times of drought,
May you be blessed to find the wells.

May you have the wisdom to read time clearly
And to know when the seed of change will flourish.

In your heart may there be sanctuary
for the stillness where clarity is born.

May your work be infused with passion and creativity
And have the wisdom to balance compassion and challenge.

May your soul find the graciousness
To rise above the fester of small mediocrities.

May your power never become a shell
wherein your heart would silently atrophy.

May you welcome your own vulnerability
as the ground where healing and truth join.

May the integrity of soul be your first ideal,
the source that will guide and bless your work.

John O'Donohue,  Benedictus, a Book of Blessings.