Ed Christian's World

Yesterday I heard, for the first time ever, that racism has no place in church. This is something I have been writing about for years, yet this is the first time I have ever heard it brought up in the context of a message in church.

The message was centered around Psalms 24: 1- 4 where David declared that God created all people, regardless of race, color, religion or anything any of them had done. One can assume this includes the LGBT community though the pastor did not actually mention them. Actually God created everything, including the birds and animals that inhabit the earth. Every human on this earth has been created in His image, for His purpose.

The reason this is so important is because my church is Southern Baptist and the SBC has a history of being very racist. Over the past few years they have managed to elect an African American as it’s leader. In spite of this the SBC remains un-bending on the LGBT community, conservatism and has failed to stand up for equal rights when it comes to voting among the African American people. This prejudice has defined the SB church and while they are actively pursuing people from the African American community to join, they still continue to shun them inside the church. They still pass judgment on people who don’t think like they do and will not let a member of the LGBT community become a member of the church. They are intolerant of the non conservative and continue to mix politics with the church.

So the message yesterday could be the first step in opening the door to all in our community or it could be just words. time will tell. A Christian is a Christian and the gospel has not defined one sect being more Christian than another any more than it defines one sin as worse than another, sin is sin.

I am looking forward to the messages the next few weeks to see where the pastor is leading us. Are we going to end our racism in the church or are they just words. I see it as a step in the right direction and pray that these are not just words.

Walk daily with God at your side.

Love,

Ed

I look at the fallen snow laying across the fields like a warm blanket of white covering the ground in a quiet serene peace.
I stand there in quiet prayer as I prepare for my journey into the canyon for three days of solitude at the Angel Grotto a few miles inside the Grand Canyon. If you have never been to the Grand Canyon in the winter time, you have never realized the real beauty of the gift God has given us.
Grandfather comes up beside me and asks “Graywolf can you tell me what the first Christmas gift was?” I turn and look up at him and smile saying I think that would be love. He responds that I should ponder on that during my retreat and give him an answer when I return in three days.
As I begin my journey I think more about what Grandfather had said. When I told him that would be love he just smiled at me. So was the first gift of Christmas love?
Father, I laid my head upon Your chest
Your arms encircled me,
It was as if we were
What You meant us to be,
I closed my eyes and heard Your heart
Your soft smile in my hair,
I’d never felt so whole and safe
Our hearts beating as a pair,
You found my eyes and told me of
A love for me undying,
You kissed my face and I knew right then
It was in Heaven we were lying.
Yes, Father, You were there,
To warm and comfort me in my despair.
It was Your glory that I sought,
It was Your love that You brought.
Certainly love is the greatest gift from God and it must have been the first Christmas gift. but wait, what about Joy, what about peace?
May the light be with you.
May your life be filled with joy and abundance in all areas of life.
May the light shine in your hearts so that love may be expressed.
May love and peace fill your life.
Christmas is all about love, joy, peace and hope. One is not more important then the other for they are all needed to complete our life. It was in this revelation that I discovered the first Christmas gift, it’s Jesus.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
When I returned to the reservation I looked Grandfather in the eye and gave him my answer. He responded “God’s greatest gift!”
That was on November 28, 1955, a few weeks before I turned 12 years old. I had just completed my intense training to become a Shaman. This retreat was my final lesson and I was to spend three days in seclusion to examined myself and present my being to God.
Today, I think people are so wrapped up in what is under the tree that they overlook the real meaning of Christmas. Let us all take time to thank God for everything He has given us and remind ourselves of the real reason He has blessed us.
With all my love,
Ed

What defines you…

If you were able to see what others see when they look at you, what would you say defines you? We all have our own definition of what we think defines us, but in reality people define us a lot differently than we do ourselves because they look at us in an unbiased way and see what we are by what we say, wear and act. Actually we are being judged everyday by our actions and words, something most people don’t even think about.

Grandfather used to tell me that actions speak louder than words and all the sweet talk in the world could not hide the real me if my actions don’t match my words. Then he added “Be the true person you seek, everyone should see the same person.”

Pondering on that phrase – To be the same person to everyone you meet. I like to observe and listen to people, I guess from my psychology background, and I find it surprising just how some people present themselves differently depending on who they are talking to. I guess it’s because they want to present a good image of themselves. However, because of what they show to one person over what they show to another and then how their actions reflect a totally different image I don’t think they realize that most people can see through the facade they are pushing.

Being the true person you seek requires you to be completely honest with yourself, something I see as being hard for some people. When Grandfather first told me that I said “How can I do that, I don’t even know who I am yet?” He responded “You are who you are so if you don’t know you best find out.” Well after many months of training, with Grandfather, I finally realized who I was and what I wanted in life.

I love life, animals, people and just about everything else in the world, and I have no qualms about telling someone I love you. I am the same person to everyone and I hope that is what people see in me. The bible teaches us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, to take care of the animals and care for the earth. For all these things are gifts from God, who has given them to us in love for us to cherish and care for. God does not define our neighbors as those who are like us, rather He defines them as everyone else in the world.

Is that what defines me? I don’t know, but hope so. The animals seem to know, for they will let me approach them as if they have known me all their life. They seem to trust me and will let me help them when they are hurt or just need a little love. People seem to open up to me and want to talk about everything, so I guess they read something that says I can be trusted. Based on this I think love defines me and with that I say I am blessed. Nothing done in love is ever wasted.

What defines you? Can you open yourself up and take a close, honest look? The results could very well surprise you. Is this what people see in you? If it is not what you thought, then you should consider making some changes in your life.

Comments are welcome, so please do comment.

Love always,

Ed

I received the following comment on my last post “On Faith” which you can find here:

On Faith

I’m having to think about this one, Ed. I’m trying to really sort out the distinctions between belief and faith for myself. I guess that different religions have their own beliefs that ultimately all lead to faith in one supreme being. Would personal beliefs be the components we need as individuals to support our faith? Or is there a difference between beliefs and believing? -Sally

The question brought a lot to the surface – mainly how do you determine faith? After some thought I responded with the following and at Sally’s suggestion am using it as part 2:

Let me try to put it in perspective, sort of an equation:

Belief – An opinion or judgment in which a person is fully persuaded.

Faith = ( Belief + Action + Confidence )

Confidence – Trust that is based on knowledge or past experience

When we believe the truth with enough confidence to take action we exercise faith. And it doesn’t take much of that faith to see huge things happen, even miraculous things.

But our problem is really with unbelief, not a lack of faith.

The good news is that we can change our unbelief into belief. It’s really a fairly simple, straight forward process. We just need to become more fully persuaded of the truth instead of the misconceptions and lies that we are currently holding on to.

The more we expose our minds to the truth, the more we become persuaded and convinced of that truth.

And the best way to expose our minds to the truth is to study the Bible. The more time we spend exploring the truth of the Bible, the more our minds become convinced of that truth.

The more firmly convinced of the truth we become, the more confident we’ll grow.

Then it won’t be long before we find ourselves doing things differently, acting in more faith.

Do you want more faith? Then invest more time reading, studying, and thinking about the Bible. You’ll find your faith will just grow as a result because you will change your beliefs.

That’s pretty simple, don’t you think?

To answer your question, they go hand in hand.

I am always looking for comments on my posts. It allows me to see things in a different perspective from how I grew up. I welcome all responses and where possible I will answer any question.

What we do with love is never lost. Something worth remembering.

Love,

Ed

Attitude…

Do we complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses?

Put into perspective – it is how we look at things in life that determine the path we follow. If we choose to be upset rather than letting things go we also choose to allow these things to control our future. If we choose to turn the other cheek we allow ourselves to grow and learn the meaning of love.

This is the beauty of life, we have the choice to determine what and how we feel about just about anything in life. This is how we develop and build our life.

Remember, the only thing you have complete control over is your attitude. You alone are responsible for making yourself happy. Do not depend on others to keep you smiling and positive. Choose to be optimistic. Avoid complaining, especially when the things you are complaining about can’t be avoided or changed.

When I was growing up I was taught many sayings about attitude and feelings. One of my favorite is: It doesn’t matter how many times you stumble, what matters is how many times you pick yourself up and continue forward.

Life is full of bumps and obstacles, it is how we handle these bumps and obstacles that form our mindset and attitude. Choosing to take each one as a growing experience shows strength and courage on your part. I find the most happy people I meet bounce back from disappointment, while most negative people I meet are always complaining about something.

It is an amazing contrast on how they look at life, how they love their fellow man, and achieve their personal goals. One lives in darkness, complaining there is no way out while the other looks at the little light at the end of the tunnel and focuses on reaching it.

There is always a light that will lead us out of our darkness. It is called love.

Live your life with love for all you meet, and you will find happiness everywhere. What we do with love is never lost.

What do you think? I always welcome comments and look for ideas to post. Please feel free to ask questions or to comment. I will do my best to give you an answer.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed 🙏🏼

On Faith…

Grandfather once told me If you see ten troubles coming down the road, you can be sure that nine will run into the ditch before they reach you. Just stay on your path and walk with the faith that all will be well.

Faith is believing in what is true. Faith has two elements: 1) being convinced of the truth, being certain of reality, having evidence of unseen things, and 2) believing, hoping in, embracing, seizing the truth.

Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen..

While faith requires being convinced that what we believe in is true, just knowing the truth is only half of faith. God’s word must be hoped for, embraced, seized! Luke 17:5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.”

Believing is not exactly the same as faith. For belief to be faith, it must light on what is certainly true. Yet Scripture gives examples of situations where belief alone is required, even commanded. There’s no time for evidence collection, to wait, to hear, for certainty. Just believe. Like Peter walking on the water–don’t think, act! God even requires us to believe in Him when, temporarily, the evidence looks bad: to trust. God requires belief and trust in moments of human weakness, but faith is what makes us strong. Faith is the state of being convinced about what we hope for.

Contrary to popular teaching, faith is not mental delusion, presumption or self-deception, but a work of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Rom 10:17 Faith comes by hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

Over the years, I have found, faith to be a personal thing and that almost everyone has their own way of defining and measuring it. To have faith is to defy logic. It takes faith to think positively. It takes faith to believe that there is a loving God who cares deeply about our pain. To believe in life, the universe, or yourself after numerous failures is to have courage. Faith is an act of courage. It is choosing to get up in the morning and face our fears and believe that God will help us. Faith is choosing to believe that even though we may have failed one hundred times before that we can succeed the next time.

Grandfather once told me a story about the bird:

On the ground sits a bird
that’s too afraid to fly.
Beautiful wings could make it soar,
but the pain of past failure is it’s lonesome cry.

God has said unto this bird,
“Trust and have faith in me,
for I will carry you in your flight.
The miracle of life is waiting for you to see.”

The bird said to God, “But I can’t fly.
I am weak. I will fall and feel pain
It’s happened before when I tried to fly.
I’m afraid of being hurt again.”

His voice soft and reassuring, God said to the bird, I created you, and I will protect you. Your lonesome cry I have heard.
Have faith in me. That’s all you need to do.

So, stand up, bird, and spread your wings.
The wings I lovingly created to let you fly.
If you fall I’ll pick you up, and lift you back into the sky.

With trembling legs and unsure wings
the bird finally looked to the sky.
It took a deep breath, and took the chance.
The bird began to fly.

“Thank you, God, for believing in me.
Thank you for giving me wings.
Thank you for your protecting hands.
Your glory I will now sing.”

God smiled unto the bird
in its majestic flight.
“Little bird, I’ll always be with you,
and will protect you with all my might.

You may stumble. You may fall.
That doesn’t mean that I don’t care.
I will watch over you, in case you need help,
and then I’ll be right there.”

The little bird, once so scared,
learned to soar to new heights.
The occasional fall no longer scared the bird, choosing to have faith in Gods flight.

I also know just how rough the road can be so let me finish with this:

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, when the road you’re trudging seems all uphill, when funds are low and the debts are high, and you want to smile but you have to sigh, when care is pressing you down a bit, rest if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns, as every one of us sometimes learns, and many a failure turns about, when he might have won if he’d stuck it out. Don’t give up, though the pace seems slow – you may succeed with another blow.

Faith is failure turned inside out – the silver tint of the clouds of doubt, and you never can tell how close you are – It may be near when it seems afar; so stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit – it’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

How do you measure faith? I would really like to hear your story.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love you,

Ed

Two Eyes – Two Ears – One Mouth…

Sally, one of my favorite people, responded to my post “On Prayer” with: “I wonder if a person’s prayer life is a reflection of their relationships with other people. I find that listening is a skill that often has to be taught. People want to be heard so much that they ignore the most important aspect of communicating–listening. I have said to people, you will never hear your answer unless you are still and quiet.”

It reminded me of something my Grandfather told me as I was learning the Prayer / Medicine Wheel. He would say “God has blessed you with two eyes to observe all that is going on around you, two ears so that you can hear what the spirits are telling you and one mouth to say thank you Lord!”

There is no doubt in my mind we talk too much, don’t listen enough and fail to notice what is happening all around us. One of the biggest challenges I have had was teaching my wife to see what is going on around her, observing people instead of not seeing them.

In my life, on the reservation, the one lesson I learned was we don’t die, we pass on to the spirit world and like the medicine wheel we continue in our never ending circle. As a healer I was taught to listen to the spirits and to use their strength to increase my knowledge to serve others. We are taught to use our eyes to see what nature is giving us, through the animals and plants, to help heal the inflicted and calm the storm. We use our mouth to thank God for all the blessings He has given us in strength and knowledge.

We are given two ears so that we listen twice as much as we talk, two eyes to see all the blessings we are given, even though we don’t deserve them and only one mouth to express our thanks for everything. Listening is not something we should be taught, but I think Sally is right, people are so intent on being heard, they forget the most important aspect in communication – listening. If you can’t listen you will never learn or get your answer.

That may just be the reason most people think their prayers aren’t being answered, because they are blind to the fact that you must listen to hear His response and look with your eyes when He is showing you the answer.

Two eyes, two ears and only one mouth – God knew what He was doing, let’s pay attention!

Walk daily with God at your side!

I Love You,

Ed

We recently completed a six week study on prayer in Bible Study and Church. Yesterday our pastor mentioned that familiarity with the Father tells us we are not sincere with our prayer or are just going through the motions. I’m not so sure I agree with that statement or not because I think God would like us to be as close to Him as we can get throughout our life and to rely on Him for everything. But that got me to thinking about the different phases of life and prayer.

I accepted Jesus as my savior when I was 12, about 59 years ago. I remember praying for just about anything, mostly things I wanted and my list was long. God blessed me with just about everything I asked for and what I didn’t receive, I was shown reasons why. God does know what is best for us.

During my 20’s and 30’s my prayer became less about my wants and needs to more about the needs of my family and the needs of our soldiers and Marines on the battlefield in Vietnam. More to the survival of sick, wounded and to bring us back alive from our missions. God continued to bless me with favorable answers for the most part along with some disappointment about those too hurt to bring home. There were times where I questioned why He chose to take them while leaving some of us here, but over the years I’ve come to see He had other plans for me.

Over the past 30 years or so my prayers have been more of a continuous conversation with God asking for His guidance over each and every step I take. I never have any qualms about where He is leading me and know He will protect me from all harm. It is this closeness to Him that has given me continuous peace and comfort in my daily activities and walk. In the Bible Paul tells us to be in continuous prayer with God, relying solely on Him for all things. To me walking daily with God at my side and been the biggest blessing of my entire life. If this is being too familiar with the Father, He hasn’t stopped answering my prayers, rather He has answered each and everyone of them, not always the way I wanted, but always with my needs in mind.

I think the problem of God answering prayer is more that we fail to listen, rather than Him not answering. That brings me back to my childhood when Grandfather told me that God gave me one mouth and two ears for a reason. I am to listen more and talk less. God hears all our prayers and answers everyone of them according to what is best for us. We all need to look beyond what is me and learn to look to what is Him. We are here to Glorify Him and His word. He blesses us to further His Glory. I am truly blessed!

Walk daily with God at your side.

Ed

I normally don’t like to get too involved in politics, but lately I have received about three hate E-mails a day from different ‘friends’ about different parties and candidates. So I decided to write this post.

Many years ago I came to the understanding the biggest difference between a
Democrat and a Republican is the spelling, otherwise there is little difference. Both represent big business and themselves with little regard to the general public. Both give lip service to the people while spending most of their time insuring their respective dynasties and reelection.

I find it amusing when people spend most of their time forwarding e-mails about different politicians without taking the time to fully check out what they are forwarding. A recent one reflected on how one of these parties is following the Hitler papers, sneaking ways to take our guns away and
discharging military leaders who refuse to shoot at American citizens. What the person fails to see is that our Government is more afraid of us than we are of it. Another is that we are the Government. By the way we are not Germany and our people can’t be led by the nose.

A recent poll showed that when you come South of the Mason/Dixon line at least three households out of five have guns in the house and at least one person in the household could be considered. a sharpshooter, not because of military experience but because they hunt deer, squirrel and rabbit. In my neighborhood every household has at least one gun and everyone is a sharpshooter.

The rumor is that the Government has decided that to gain control of the people, it would have to bomb certain metro areas with small cluster bombs. What they don’t realize is that if an order came down to bomb a metro area the planes would be heading to DC to wipe out the Government leaders. We do not kill our own, but Congress would be the first target not the people of the United States. If the order came to confiscate all guns, most police and
sheriff departments would refuse to participate because they would have to
put their life on the line for something against the Constitution. We do not
live under a dictatorship and will not stand for one.

In my humble opinion, it doesn’t matter so much who you vote for, what matters is that you vote. Anyone with an ounce of intelligence can see the people who pretend to be running our country aren’t doing what we pay them for and we give them a hefty paycheck. So if anyone votes to retain an
incumbent to Congress, they need to have their heads examined. In order to regain control of our country we need to replace every last one of them with someone new, and it doesn’t really matter if they have a “D” or an “R” next to their name. What matters is that they are honest and will enforce the Constitution. We don’t need new laws, we need the laws on the books
enforced. By the way, I am an Independent voter and vote across political lines. I am not particularly enamored by either party. I do take the time to research everyone on the ballot.

After serving 29 years in the Marines and as head of ONI I saw first hand just how corrupt our Government really is and having served under leaders from both sides, I can assure you they both are the same – dirty. What
things are done under the guise of National Security that end up being extreme violations of the Constitution are mind boggling. Absolute power corrupts and all our leaders are corrupt. Our leaders are so corrupt it makes the problems with the NSA look like child play. So don’t let yourself
be fooled into thinking your security or the needs of the country are being met by any one party, the people of this country are the last thing on their mind. Use a little common sense, our Government sure doesn’t.

Then we have the media, the biggest threat to the security of our country. They all have an agenda, divide america and keep the negative in the forefront. Negative sells and fear is their tool. Fear is the mind killer!
The media has built up so much fear in this country about ISSL coming to attack us, to Ebola spreading all around America killing us off, to how really open our southern border is so the enemy can just walk in and take over. They thrive on twisting the facts and misleading us because fear sells news and they are in the business of selling news. Remember what our grandfathers taught us – believe half of what you hear and only a third of what you read in the newspaper. The media has taken it upon themselves to
tell America what to believe and how to live. They treat us like puppets and pull our strings to keep us agitated. It might be interesting to know our northern border is more porous than our southern border and there is no fence.

We also have these so called experts touting themselves on the radio and television pushing hate and discontent. They believe since they have their own show and people watch, everything they say is gospel and if anyone questions them on it, they are the misinformed enemy. Everyone has an opinion and there are differences in opinion. It is these differences that makes good ideas come to the surface. Through discussion of the different
ideas common thoughts come together. It is what has built our country in the past and it is the refusal to discuss these differences that is tearing our country apart today. The refusal to compromise is one of the biggest causes of the dumbing down of America.

Jesus taught us to love God with all our heart and to love our neighbors as He has loved us. That means all of our neighbors, not just the ones who think, act and believe as we do. He also said if you can’t do that, you certainly can’t love Him.

Thank you and have a blessed day!

Ed

My Grandfather’s goal was to teach me the ways of a healer as I was growing up. To that end, when I graduated out of AYOP school when I was eight, he started training me on the medicine wheel. He taught me how to use my mind and body to help move pain through out my body and how to use my hands to soothe anxiety and resolve pain in others. This training went on for about four years. Grandfather, a Shaman, was pushing hard to have me step into his place as Shaman and had me presented in front of the Tribal Console at the completion of my training. I had just turned twelve and the Console thought I was too young to assume such a responsibility. Grandfather died the following summer and the family moved off the reservation to Ohio.

Over the years I learned more and more techniques from my mother and gained more experience and confidence as I put the knowledge to use. When I turned eighteen she proclaimed me a Shaman. Mom died a few years later.

I never really practiced, other than giving comfort to various family members or a few Marines shot on the front line in Vietnam and for years I just sort of pushed it to the back of my mind. Then one evening, while I was studying for my Masters in Clinical Psychology at UO in Norman, one of my classmates experienced a temper fit with the professor and had a meltdown. Without thinking, I placed my hands on him and calmed his spirit and mind to gently bring him back in control. Needless to say, the professor and the class were astonished to see how I took control of the situation and we spent the rest of the evening discussing my training as a young child on the reservation. Over the next few weeks I taught the class a few techniques on how to calm the spirit and mind. At the request of my professor I wrote my thesis on the various teaching experiences I received while growing up.

I have used my God given blessing, over the years, to calm the storms in many people and cool the fires in the minds of many others. I don’t look at myself as a Shaman or healer, but more as a calming spirit in the mist of the turmoil in our daily life. God has blessed me with this spirit and as a child of God I pass it on to others as needed.

Have a blessed day!

Ed