Sacred Relationships - infaith's posterous

Barbara Brown Taylor ?In this universe, there is no such thing as an individual apart from his or her relationships. Every interaction?between people and people, between people and things, between things and things?changes the face of history.?

When relationships are the top value in a culture (like with the Native American Nations) the world is viewed not in terms of who?s the boss or what is your defined role but how well you intermingle with whatever you encounter. People relationships are entered into with caution and respect, not with a hearty ?How are you, I am ?, I work at?.What do you do?? type of greeting.

This sometimes makes it difficult in a meeting with Anglo/Minority cultures, each looking at the other without understanding what is taking place. We were at such a meeting recently with the Anglo culture asking most of the questions and spouting opinions at every pause.? It is bewildering to both cultures why one is so silent and the other is so talkative.

?Aren?t they used to us by now?? asked one of the Anglos. ?They are so shy.?

I mumbled something, not giving her an answer that would have taken a long time to explain. I do try to teach some things to the youth that will allow them to give rote answers to satisfy a culture that has basically an individualistic approach. ?Shake their hands, give your name and where you are from and then ask where they are from. That usually satisfies them. Just shake your head if they ask you personal questions. Only a few get it that there has to be a trusting relationship before personal information can be exchanged.?

So the youth learn social behavior in an Anglo Culture 101 and we begin to be treated less like freaks when we attend cross cultural gatherings such as coffee hour or social encounters.? It is strange that in many of these occasions, that the minorities are the only ones aware that it is a cross cultural meeting.

It is not only with people relationships that the difference in cultures is highlighted.? On another visit we were at the Phoenix Cathedral and I asked if they would like to see the sanctuary.? We enter the door that leads to the altar and as I open the door, one of the youth asks in a whisper, ?Is it all right for us to be in here??? I whisper back, ?It?s okay, this is holy ground and we can enter.?

We walk around and have one of those corporate awe experiences as we soak in an unlit space with stained glass windows and an immense space used for honoring the holy. Later we talk in the van about our relationship with holy spaces. ?It was awesome that we could just walk around. It felt like God shining in the windows at us.?

As we drove back to Northern Arizona, there was a third kind of relationship between us and creation. ?It is so brown here,? says one of the youth looking at the landscape. ?We need more rain.?? As we were leaving town we noticed that there was a strand of trees that were a stark contrast to the rest of the environment.? ?Look how green they are. There must be a river,? says one of the teens.? We all lean toward the side of the van showing this long line of green healthy trees that are surrounded by dried up trees and bushes. We are looking for the river as though it is the Holy Grail. ?It was another awesome moment shared by all of us.

It is hard to write this without sounding like one culture is better than another. All cultures have their gift, whether it be the capacity for organization and individual achievement or the capacity for seeing everything in relationship, or something else.

For me, today, I am thankful to be with youth who are attuned to the sacred in ways that I have put in the background. One of the Anglos complimented a specific youth for something he had done. Reflecting on it later, a young adult says, ?Do you hear what they liked about us??

One compliments an individual and our youth see it in relationship to all of us. This more than anything else differentiates the different cultures. ??Who are you?? is often asked by someone who wants an individual?s name. They are taken aback when the response is ?We are the Spirit Journey Youth or Episcopal Natives.

Perhaps in this season of Lent, I can with humility look for the sacred with all cultures, blowing away the superficial trappings of our respective civilizations.

In faith,

Kaze

?

Source: http://infaith.posterous.com/sacred-relationships

aaliyah golden globe winners the express zappos hacked jane fonda morgan freeman jon huntsman