We Are All Related
Last week I visited the Pine Ridge reservation with the mission group of St. Francis Builds - it was an experience I never want to forget. I learned many things about the Lakota and their culture while we were there, but the phrase "Mitakuye Oyasin", or, "we are all related", stuck out to me the most.
As we were driving to the reservation, looking out the window reminded me of home: Texas and its big open skies, the hill country, cows, the crazy changing weather. At the same time, South Dakota felt like a different world. The hills seemed endless, the cattle looked like they only belonged on a postcard, the occasional cluster of mobile homes appeared abandoned. Where was I? What was I doing? I was traveling with a multi-generational group of people most of whom I barely knew into a place I had never been to get to know and help people I had never met... for only a week. On top of that, I just caught a cold. Did that seem like a good idea?
I did it anyway.
Getting to know these beautiful people in the beautiful landscape of Pine Ridge was not only inspiring, but helped me realize what "Mitakuye Oyasin" really means. I am not just related to my parents, my brothers, my uncles, aunts, and cousins. We are not only related to people we know and love dearly. We are related to everyone, and to everything. Everything that lives and everything that IS, is related. It might be silly to think when you walk outside and ask yourself "how am I related to the grass I am standing on, the air I am breathing, the people I am bumping into?"
How you interact with everything and everyone reflects your relationship with them. The sun helps the water glisten, the water helps the grass grow, the grass help your feet be comfortable when the sidewalk is too hot on a summer's day. What do you do to help the air you breathe? What do you do to help people you see? Are you in a one-sided conversation with world?
Asking those questions to myself while I was there kept my eyes open in admiration for those around me. Everyone among me believed they could make a difference; that a small imact on a community could have a greater impact on the world.
Going on this trip and being a part of the Franciscan Volunteer Ministry has made me ask myself "why" on several occasions. For example, "Why would you want to teach ESL if you want to illustrate children's books?" or "Why would you want to help rebuild homes on Native American reservation if you want to write stories about a fairy godmother with a hardship license?"
The phrase "we are all related" is hard to forget in a place like St. Camillus. I don't think I ever will.
As we were driving to the reservation, looking out the window reminded me of home: Texas and its big open skies, the hill country, cows, the crazy changing weather. At the same time, South Dakota felt like a different world. The hills seemed endless, the cattle looked like they only belonged on a postcard, the occasional cluster of mobile homes appeared abandoned. Where was I? What was I doing? I was traveling with a multi-generational group of people most of whom I barely knew into a place I had never been to get to know and help people I had never met... for only a week. On top of that, I just caught a cold. Did that seem like a good idea?
I did it anyway.
Getting to know these beautiful people in the beautiful landscape of Pine Ridge was not only inspiring, but helped me realize what "Mitakuye Oyasin" really means. I am not just related to my parents, my brothers, my uncles, aunts, and cousins. We are not only related to people we know and love dearly. We are related to everyone, and to everything. Everything that lives and everything that IS, is related. It might be silly to think when you walk outside and ask yourself "how am I related to the grass I am standing on, the air I am breathing, the people I am bumping into?"
How you interact with everything and everyone reflects your relationship with them. The sun helps the water glisten, the water helps the grass grow, the grass help your feet be comfortable when the sidewalk is too hot on a summer's day. What do you do to help the air you breathe? What do you do to help people you see? Are you in a one-sided conversation with world?
Asking those questions to myself while I was there kept my eyes open in admiration for those around me. Everyone among me believed they could make a difference; that a small imact on a community could have a greater impact on the world.
Going on this trip and being a part of the Franciscan Volunteer Ministry has made me ask myself "why" on several occasions. For example, "Why would you want to teach ESL if you want to illustrate children's books?" or "Why would you want to help rebuild homes on Native American reservation if you want to write stories about a fairy godmother with a hardship license?"
The answer is: "Mitakuye Oyasin". Without these experiences, with these people, grass, sun, cows, languages, without these relationships I would not be able to illustrate those stories the way they are meant to be. We are called to be in a relationship with the world around us, to be connected with others. Teaching ESL has taught me new ways of being creative. Getting to know the Lakota people has taught me more about compassion and beauty than I had ever known before.
The phrase "we are all related" is hard to forget in a place like St. Camillus. I don't think I ever will.
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