Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Two ideas from this book

American Indian Genesis: The Story of Creation ~ by Percy Bullchild, 1998, anthropology, 9/10
"From the mud Creator Sun molded a form in his own shape, his own image. ... This mud figure came to life as Creator Sun blew into its nostrils" (p. 33).

"Kneeling down beside him, Creator Sun took out the Mudman's lowest, smaller left rib. ... The Ribwoman too was very weak after she was created from the Mudman's rib" (p. 35).
This indigenous history of the creation story from Percy Bullchild is surprisingly similar to what's in my Bible.  The first man (called "Mudman") was formed from mud, and "Ribwoman" came from a very specific "lowest, smaller left rib" of that first man.
"Be honest to life and to all life."  This one commandment covered everything:  Be honest.  We have all lost that one commandment by our Creator Sun that covered all of our wrongs.  Our Indian life had one of the truest form of religion before the coming of the Europeans" (p. 40).
I'm not sure what "be honest" means in this quote.  From my own study of the creation story in Genesis, I think taking care of all creation makes sense.  By that, I also mean caring for other humans, since people are part of creation just as rocks and trees and birds and animals are.  And that brings me to the idea of having compassion and empathy for one another.  Is that the same as being honest to all life?  Maybe.  What do you think?