Smudging for Blessing and Cleansing: Tuesday's Reflection

This past weekend I went on a guided tour of Native American Sacred Sites led by two wise men, one from the Mohican tribe and the other a Mendota Dakota. A group of about 40 of us from my church gathered under a large cottonwood tree to hear stories of creation, of survival, of forgiveness, of hope, and about the history of domination that happened right in my back yard. 

We began with a smudging ceremony. 

Smudging is a spiritual practice among some indigenous peoples in which herbs, such as sage, are burned for the purpose of blessing and/or cleansing.

One of our guides walked around the circle we had formed, carrying a large abalone shell of burning sage. Each one of us directed the smoke over our bodies with open hands. We were quiet, expectant. I felt both cleansed and blessed.

What this country needs right now is a good smudging.

As I sit here at my desk, I imagine a thick, pungent smelling smoke wafting over us all from coast to coast, but lingering especially over the buildings and monuments in Washington DC. I imagine that smoke drifting into the Senate hearing room and the White House and now the Supreme Court. 

A smudging does not erase what has happened, but, instead, it clears the space and allows us to see with more clarity and to feel supported on the next steps. 

We need a cleansing from the hate, the fear, the partisanship. 

We need a blessing to remind us that we are all one. We need a blessing to learn how to listen, to act out of love. 

                 
        Hear me, four quarters of the world--a relative I am!
        Give me the strength to walk the soft earth,
             a relative to all that is!
        Give me the eyes to see and the strength to understand
             that I may be like you...
        Great Spirit, Great Spirit, my Grandfather,
        all over the earth the faces of living things are all alike.
        With tenderness have these come up out of the ground.
        Look upon these faces of children without number
             and with children in their arms
        that they may face the winds and walk the good road
             to the day of quiet. 
                                              Black Elk       

An Invitation
What needs smudging in your life? I would love to know.