Ons geloofgesprek: Profetiese woorde?
Daar word op die oomblik in die kerk meer gepraat oor self-ontplooiing as oor self-opoffering.-Anon.......As ‘n kerk haar woorde begin devalueer, dan word die kerk ‘n ramp vir die volk. - K Schilder 9/21/2009
Hier volg ‘n verkorte weergawe van my vorige ‘vermiste’ pos oor die roerende mooi en profetiese pleidooi wat Hoofman Seattle van die Suquamish stam tot president Pierce van die VSA (1854) gerig het in reaksie op die president se versoek om 'n aansienlike stuk Rooihuid- grond (vir ‘n appel-en-’n-ui natuurlik) te koop..."How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man.We are part of the earth, and it is part of us... So, when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land, he asks much of us." (Lees verder...)
"This shining water that moves in the streams and the rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred, and you must teach your children that it is sacred and that each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father.The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes and feed our children. If we sell you our land, you must remember, and teach your children, that the rivers are our brothers, and yours, and you must henceforth give the rivers the kindness you would give any brother.The earth is not his (the white man’s) brother but his enemy, and when he has conquered it he moves on. [...] His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert.You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of our grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin. Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself."Profetiese woorde komende van ‘n wyse ou man wat meer as ‘n eeu gelede al besef het dat die omgewing wat deur die mens gemanipuleer word ‘n mag word wat weer die mens se lewenskwaliteit bepaal...Hoofman Seattle het later jare tot die Christelike geloof oorgegaan en het met sy doop die naam Noah aangeneem.Ek sou graag wou weet hoe sy nuutgevonde Christenskap sy uitkyk op die natuur beïnvloed het?
Dankie dat jy hierdie weer plaas, Liza - nou sal ons verwysings hierna meer sin maak!