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Listen to the Grandmothers: Honor the Treaties, Pray for Your Very Dear Friend and Live in a Good Way

by Beth Ellsworth, Rev. Dr. Rebecca Voelkel | Jun 13, 2021 | sermons

 

Rev. Dr. Rebecca Voelkel:

When my Grandmother Voelkel died, I got her copy of Psalms/Now with artwork by Sister Corita Kent and translations of the Psalms written by Leslie Brandt. You’ve heard me talk about how important my Grammie, Mary Doyle MacKenzie Unwin, was in my life. But I don’t talk much about my Grandmother Voelkel. Our relationship was a bit more complicated. In fact, when I opened her book this week, I noticed that she had listed her name inside the front cover as Mrs. Elmer Voelkel. {Sigh}

But today, we are sharing about our experience at the Treaty People Gathering Against Line 3 and one of the most important lessons we learned was to listen to the grandmothers. So, it seemed important to share a bit from my own grandmother. And she loved the Psalms, and she loved this particular interpretation of them.

Today’s assigned reading is from Psalm 20 and in this reading of it, the psalmist is praying fervently and intimately for their very dear friend…

May G-d reach out to touch you and heal you; may G-d fulfill your crying need in this hour. And may we soon rejoice together over your deliverance…those who surround us put their trust in rockets and computers, but such will fail to solve the real problems of our lives. It is only in the name of G-d that we who fall can find the grace to rise again.

As I have been reading this psalm, through the lens of the Treaty People Gathering, I have been praying as if my very dear friend is the water, is the rivers, is the watershed. And I’ve been praying as if “those who surround us” put their trust in drilling pads and tarsands oil and Border patrol helicopters that seek to intimidate.

I have been praying in this way because there were two primary lessons from the Treaty People Gathering: The first is as Mary Vanderford said, listen to the Anishinaabe grandmothers and honor the treaties made by their ancestors with our ancestors. The second lesson was: remember that God is Creator, maker of heaven and earth… maker of four-legged and two-legged… maker of water and fire, earth and air… maker of all of life. And the God who created and is creating still has placed us among a creation of plenty. We are not to destroy on God’s holy mountain but we are to live in a good way: of respect, of reciprocity.

On Monday, the day of the action, we started in a prayer circle that was, perhaps, the most meaningful multifaith prayer experience I’ve ever had. Great-grandmother Mary started us and I’d like to play some of her words: Great-Grandmother Mary Lyons, Ojibwe Elder_subtitles

After Great-Grandmother Mary spoke and Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu and other indigenous leaders prayed, we marched to the Mississippi River, to the place where Enbridge plans to make the first of three tunnels under the Mississippi. There are so many things to lift up about this, but one piece seems worth sharing in this context. As the whole 2000 folx marched, there were thousands upon thousands of dragonflies about three feet above our heads. The Star Tribune described it this way: “Prayers, songs and drums led marchers to one of the Mississippi River crossing points for the new pipeline as dragonflies swarmed overhead.” It was as if they were covering and protecting us. It was as if the Anishinaabe grandmother’s prayers and all of our followership told the dragonflies that we were living in reciprocity, that we were living in a good way, that we were walking as students, like we should. And, knowing of the grandmother’s prayers, the dragonflies were there to keep anything (mosquitoes and maybe even Enbridge) from biting us.

Beth Ellsworth – see video!

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