Celtic Spirituality
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Native Spirituality

Celtic spirituality is marked by two major features, one is the belief that what is deepest in us is the image of God. The second major characteristic of the Celtic tradition is a belief in the essential goodness of creation.

Not only is creation viewed as a blessing it is regarded in essence as an expression of God and the book of creation in which we may read the mystery of God. And so it is also with Native Spirituality. For centuries past and an ocean away from here, Celtic prayers were also chanted at the rising and the setting of the sun.  They communicated a sense of the interweaving of what is seen and unseen, of the spiritual world of matter conjoined. Simultaneously each of our traditions searched for a depth of relationship between spirituality and the mystery of creation, a creation and Creator that doesn’t define us by our failings but by the beauty and wildness of our origins… our Original Blessing.

In the Celtic as with the Native traditions this discipline includes meditation as well as prayer and is viewed as opening the eyes of the heart in order to see God in all things and draw us further towards listening for the Word of Love at the heart of life, the word that is deeper than any fears and sufferings that we will also hear within us when we listen. Native Lakota Wisdom mirrors that and calls seeing “chantee ishta”, …Seeing with the Eyes of the heart.

In the Native tradition meaning connects events and rather than imposing meaning, traditional peoples participate in a world of meaningfulness.  For Celtic and Native peoples alike, Meaningfulness is story; the world around us, and every entity within it is constantly telling us a story. And we too, as co-creators with our Creator are too, constantly participating in the unfolding of an infinite number of stories, all connecting with each other in meaningful ways through space and time. Divine Appointments, Divine Assurance, Divine Courage.

So, as we stand together we embrace our Source and acknowledge that we are here together to learn and know and grow in wisdom… just as the sun lights the day, that light of the Spirit that brings us together is more powerful than anything that could divide us because we know that the greatest arrogance of the present is to forget the wisdom of the past.  That knowledge and wisdom will be our power and our power will be our Creators gift to us of peace, a peace that is beyond our understanding, the foundation and beginning of a curiosity, truly connecting one with another and all that we encounter.  

Amen