August 2009
North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington
North Dakota is now far behind us. The kind people we met there are still in our hearts. And the impression of the Norwegian Stave Church in Minot, ND is there as well. This reproduction of the traditional stave church is very well kept, and is a sacred book carved in wood. It is a reminder to us of the much more living--and much less intellectual--experience of Christianity which people had in earlier centuries in Europe. The Presbyterian Church there, although housed in a more prosaic building, is also alive and vibrant, reaching out into the community to help people in both their bodily and spiritual needs.
Crossing into Montana, we passed through an Indian reservation. It was a full time, After a hot and windy day cycling, we spoke at a bible study group, then went to a traditional pow-wow with music, ceremonial costumes and dance. The next day we sang at the nursing home, the men's jail and the women's jail.
It is no secret that alcoholism, drug abuse and domestic violence are big problems on the reservation. So is lack of initiative and dependency on social welfare institutions. There is a great sense of tragedy there. The old native American culture was based on tribal consciousness and communing with the spirits of the ancestors for guidance and direction. The European settlers brought individualistic consciousness. In its best form, it meant that a person's basic humanity and not his or her tribal origin is fundamental. The individual and not the ancestors or the tribal spirit are to guide society. Consider Jefferson's words in the US Declaration of Independence:
"That to secure these [basic human] rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed"
With some few exceptions (Thomas Jefferson, who invited native American leaders to the White House, being one of them), the European Americans chose to ignore the gifts and treasures of the Native Americans. They lost the reverence for the land and nature in the process. They forgot that human rights derive from the Creator and require responsibility to the Creator, and to our fellowman. The Indians, unable to take up the new consciousness in the form presented to them, lost their lands, their livelihood and their culture. Nonetheless, we met many people with Indian backgrounds who have overcome the adversity. Very often, they are Christians with great devotion and a sensitivity for things spiritual.
A kind priest and a few friends brought us furthur across the prairie of Montana. We reached the mountains in western Montana, British Columbia (Cananda) then Idaho and Washington: full of trees and fresh water. We also met a number of people who moved here from urban areas to find a new, quieter and less hectic life. Talking to them has been as refreshing as walking and cycling in the green nature.
So our pilgrimage continues. Canada was the forty-fourth country we have visited. The odometer reads just shy of 29,000 miles (46,700 km). The dozens of people we have met, and the many people praying for and otherwise helping us are thought of and remembered with love and gratitude.
Alexandra and William
North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington
North Dakota is now far behind us. The kind people we met there are still in our hearts. And the impression of the Norwegian Stave Church in Minot, ND is there as well. This reproduction of the traditional stave church is very well kept, and is a sacred book carved in wood. It is a reminder to us of the much more living--and much less intellectual--experience of Christianity which people had in earlier centuries in Europe. The Presbyterian Church there, although housed in a more prosaic building, is also alive and vibrant, reaching out into the community to help people in both their bodily and spiritual needs.
Crossing into Montana, we passed through an Indian reservation. It was a full time, After a hot and windy day cycling, we spoke at a bible study group, then went to a traditional pow-wow with music, ceremonial costumes and dance. The next day we sang at the nursing home, the men's jail and the women's jail.
It is no secret that alcoholism, drug abuse and domestic violence are big problems on the reservation. So is lack of initiative and dependency on social welfare institutions. There is a great sense of tragedy there. The old native American culture was based on tribal consciousness and communing with the spirits of the ancestors for guidance and direction. The European settlers brought individualistic consciousness. In its best form, it meant that a person's basic humanity and not his or her tribal origin is fundamental. The individual and not the ancestors or the tribal spirit are to guide society. Consider Jefferson's words in the US Declaration of Independence:
"That to secure these [basic human] rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed"
With some few exceptions (Thomas Jefferson, who invited native American leaders to the White House, being one of them), the European Americans chose to ignore the gifts and treasures of the Native Americans. They lost the reverence for the land and nature in the process. They forgot that human rights derive from the Creator and require responsibility to the Creator, and to our fellowman. The Indians, unable to take up the new consciousness in the form presented to them, lost their lands, their livelihood and their culture. Nonetheless, we met many people with Indian backgrounds who have overcome the adversity. Very often, they are Christians with great devotion and a sensitivity for things spiritual.
A kind priest and a few friends brought us furthur across the prairie of Montana. We reached the mountains in western Montana, British Columbia (Cananda) then Idaho and Washington: full of trees and fresh water. We also met a number of people who moved here from urban areas to find a new, quieter and less hectic life. Talking to them has been as refreshing as walking and cycling in the green nature.
So our pilgrimage continues. Canada was the forty-fourth country we have visited. The odometer reads just shy of 29,000 miles (46,700 km). The dozens of people we have met, and the many people praying for and otherwise helping us are thought of and remembered with love and gratitude.
Alexandra and William
