We were privileged to have an authentic peace pipe with us in worship on Sunday, which was given to the great-grandfather of one of our members by the Ho-Chunk Nation here in Wisconsin many years ago.
A ‘peace pipe’ was used by a variety of Native American tribes, for primarily ceremonial purposes. They were most often not owned by one person, but by the community. However, they might be given as gifts, and tradition hold that if you were carrying a peace pipe, you may be granted safe passage even as a stranger.
A peace pipe might be used to seal a treaty or contract; often smoked together at the end of a war. Another purpose was to pray--the smoke was believed to carry the prayers up to the Great Spirit, or God.
Making peace with people, especially with folks who have hurt or upset us deeply, is a lot of hard work. When we need to make peace with each other, it takes lots of prayer, it often takes help from our community around us, particularly our elders who might be wiser and have greater perspective, and we will certainly need help from God. We should never be afraid to ask for help when we are in conflict and wish to make peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment