Call to Lament Celebration
May all we say and think here in this sacred place be in harmony with the Creator.
We will open ourselves and remember how we left the Creator’s side and left the path the Creator called us to walk.
We are sad that we have failed to walk with the Creator.
But we celebrate that the Creator invites us back to walk together.
And all nature joins with us on the path and the Creator is glad.
The Great Spirit is truly here among us.
Amen
The Lord's Prayer
First Nation Version
Another time, after Creator Set Free (Jesus) had finished praying, one of his followers said to him, “Wisdom keeper, teach us how to pray in the same way Gift of Goodwill (John) taught his followers.” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) smiled and said to them, “When you send your voice to the Great Spirit, here is how you should pray:
“O Great Spirit, our Father from above, your name is sacred and holy. Bring your good road to us, where the beauty of your ways in the spirit-world above is reflected in the world below. Provide for us day by day - the elk, the buffalo, the salmon. The corn, the squash, and the wild rice. All the good things we need for each day. Release us from the things we have done wrong in the same way we release others of the things they have done wrong to us. And guide us away from the things that tempt us from your good road.”
Service July 31
Scripture Lesson
Luke 12: 13-21
(First Nation Version: an Indigenous Translation of the New Testament)
(Note in the prologue regarding names: “We decided to follow our Native naming traditions and use the meaning of names for people and places in this Great Story.”)
13 Someone from the crowd pushed forward and said to him, “Wisdom-keeper, tell my brother to give me my part of what our father left to us.”
14 Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said to him, “Who made me the one to decide this between you and your brother?
15 Watch your step, or greed will make you stumble. Remember, one’s life is not made up of many possessions.” There were many people in the crowd who heard what we said about possessions.
16 So he told them this story to help them see more clearly. “A man with many possessions had a field that was growing a great harvest of food.
17 “What will I do with all this food?” he said to himself. “I have no room in my storage barns for this great harvest.” The man thought about it and then said to himself again,
18 I know what I will do. I will tear down my old storage barns and build larger ones,
19 I will have enough to last me many winters. Then I can take my rest, eat, drink and celebrate.
20 But the Great Spirit said to him, “Why are you being so foolish? This is the day you will cross over to death and give an answer for your life. Now who will get the goods you have stored up for your- self?” Creator Set Free (Jesus) let the people think about the story, and then he said,
21 This is how it will be for the ones who make themselves rich but forget about Creator’s true riches.”