
By Anna Von Reitz
When I was a young girl I used to dream and wonder like all young women
do--where would I go? What would I do? And, of course, would there be anyone
to share my life? Or would I always be alone?
Try as I might, I had a hard time imagining any man who would be right for
me. I was then, as now, a prickly critter, spunky and sharp as a ripe cheese--
as my beleaguered Mother moaned.... "Oh, I had a little girl and she had a
little curl, right in the middle of her forehead.....and when she was good, my,
she was very, VERY good, but when she was bad.......when she was bad....."
Okay, well, dreaming being what dreaming is worth, I decided that all
things being equal, I might as well like whomever I liked for whatever reasons I
liked him. And I bobbled about like this for quite a number of years with mixed
results that revealed no rhyme or reason and no narrowing down of prospects.
It turned out that while I had really good taste in men, no two boyfriends
were ever anything alike. There was no discernible pattern. Not for me any
simple formula of "tall, dark, and handsome" or "blond, blue-eyed, and strong as
an ox". It got to the point where I even I had to shake my head and my best
friend said, "Just picture your Dream Husband."
Apparently some women find this easy to do.
So, one afternoon, cornered by concerned friends and relatives, sweating
like a dog, I was forced to explain my idea of Prince Charming.
This was wonderfully laughable, but also woefully memorable. It comes back
like yesterday.
I heard my own voice coming in clipped, disgusted tones--- "Obviously, he
must be wealthier than Midas, wiser than Solomon, better looking than Adonis,
and....as kind as Jesus. Go find me one of those."
All the older women rolled their eyes and smirked and all the younger women
stared at me in shocked disbelief, and I tucked the corner of my skirt under my
outer thigh and sipped daintily on my lemonade.
This was, however, to be a turning point.
Despite my exceedingly private and furtive moments when I considered the
whole concept of getting married --- Prince Charming, who turned out to be a
dimly imagined combination of Gregory Peck, Clint Eastwood, and the Old Spice
Man with a sense of humor like Will Rogers and the goodness and patience of a
saint---- was nowhere to be found.
Oh, and did I mention? He had to be courteous and brave and loyal? More
loyal than a Boy Scout?
Fact is, I was smart enough to know that I couldn't imagine the man that
God would set aside for me, if in fact any such earmarked piece of goods
existed, so I didn't waste much time trying. Turns out my mate was fifteen years
older than me and living in Alaska. Go try to figure that one out and make it
happen.
My husband proved to be everything and nothing like anything I had ever
imagined. This is because God thinks on a different scale, with far greater
wisdom and depth. He deals with a whole different deck of cards. Jim Belcher
was ---literally--- beyond my ability to imagine.
And that is the way it is with most of our dreams.
We struggle and fret and tick off our lists, we envision and we scheme and
we get pictures in our minds of how something should work, or how someone should
look and what exactly is required----and then God steps in, and blows our
conceptions and assumptions sky-high and to smithereens.
Boom!
I am laughing as I write this.
Folks, you can't imagine what you can't imagine, until, unexpectedly, it's
real.
I was just reminded of that today, speaking with Native Nations
leaders. Some of them are locked in on what they want and what they need and
they have thought about this for many years and they are sure of exactly
how-it-has-got-to-be. They've got their "dream" trapped like an ant in amber, a
timeless vision of Native Utopia, the world returned to pristine and simple
grandeur, all under the benevolent and wise care of Indian Elders.
And, at some level, it doesn't matter to them that no such world has ever
existed and that no such world is ever likely to exist. They just want their
dream and they want it their way.
The truth is, that against all odds, Divine Providence has intervened and
provided them with what is real and what is real is unimaginably better than any
dream--- but it's not the dream of the Native Nations. It's not my dream,
either.
What is opening up for all of us is, instead, is beyond our ability to
imagine.
It's not our dream, it's God's dream, and like He told Job so long ago----
(and I paraphrase) ---where were you, when I built the Earth?
Throughout the afternoon I continued to get calls from Native Leaders, each
one eager to stake a claim on things that are long past---- and eager also to
describe the endless recitation of injuries and injustices and reasons why they
and their claims should take precedence over everyone else.
At one point I had a Lakota chief telling me about Pine Ridge and Wounded
Knee and all the other nasty horrible things his people have suffered, and
suddenly I looked him right in the eye, got down on all fours in the Playpen of
this kind of discussion, and I very calmly said:
"My Great-Grandmother was ambushed in the Battle of New Ulm, Minnesota.
She had her baby torn out of her hands and cut in half before her eyes. Her
husband was murdered in similar fashion. She herself was shot multiple times
and left for dead on the open prairie, but not before she saw her two small sons
also killed right in front of her by full grown Lakota warriors. She carried a
musket ball embedded in her skull for the rest of her life, and all she was
trying to do was get from Chicago to Seattle, Point A to Point B. I didn't
recount that bit of family history because I am not here to relive 1862. I am
ready to leave the ugly past behind. Are you?"
There was a long, long pause.
This focus on the past is habitual for many Native people and hard to
overcome.
Today I talked to three Native leaders--- very powerful, very
intelligent. Two of them were like prisoners coming out of a dark cell into the
light.
I sat for a long time after the final conference of the day, staring out
into space, thinking about all the horror stories of my own people, my own
family. I thought about the country folk in Irish Pubs getting into fist fights
over the Battle of the Boyne---which happened a thousand years ago.
Nothing is ever over until we say it's over, but there are times when we
should, because when we hold onto the past with both hands there's no way to
grab onto the future.
After all, I could still be waiting for Prince Charming or holding grudges
for what happened to my Great-Grandmother in the Battle of New Ulm.
---------------------------------------
See this article and over 300 others on Anna's website here:www.annavonreitz.com
To support this work look for the PayPal button on this website.
Anna, I recently spent several days on a Lakota Res. in the Black Hills of the Dakotas..a small, downtrodden town that had more transients in both human and canine form, than any town I've ever stepped into.
ReplyDeleteI could feel the undertones of hate pulsating and eminating from every road and home, and especially from a particular young native male, who gave me a blistering glance. My heart hurt in response. It is as though the community is happy to live this way, enraged and poised for battle they WANT to come.
I have native american ancestors and understand the whys and the thens. What I don't understand is their NOWs. The past is behind us for a reason. We all must forgive, let go, and embrace the tomorrows that are barrelling forward like a freight train.
I await the future with a tad bit of angst and child-like wonder; I am working on bringing no past into my future. I want my end days to be peaceful, enlighted, and sovereign.
I keep that little town in my prayers and hope they find Love and forgiveness in their immediate futures.
Thank you to both Anna and Danika for your words of wisdom, in forgiveness, compassion and love. This activity IS the Ascension that is here and now, getting 'ever-so-much-more-so' in the lives of many who are tired of the separation (sin) and ready to make peace with there selves and all others. Let us hold this as already done, and let 'The Great Gardener' water the seeds of peace and forgiveness planted now, to flourish and grow exponentially, abundantly for all! It Is Done! Namaste'
DeleteThat is the supernaturally intelligent trick of condemnatory judgement. Brought to us by the one who introduced us to the tree of knowledge of good and evil(law derived from). One cannot sow condemnation and reap blessing. Pray for all.
DeleteThank you Anna, glad you met your lovely husband and thank you for the story. My grandparents had most of their family killed in the German Holocaust. It sounds like this planet has had a very bloody past. The sad thing is that my ancestors were killed for what the banksters did, they had nothing to do with them. I see the same hate today towards my race, for nothing that they did, but for what the small amount of criminals do. Nothing every changes that much on this planet. People want to take their anger out on others and they will take it out on fellow enslaved beings. The only thing that can save this planet is a spiritual awakening. Many who say they are awakening spiritually are spreading the same hate as throughout history and are fooling themselves. I think that we are headed towards harder and harder times until the damn breaks and everything falls apart. Those of us who are truly spiritually connected will breeze through it easier then those that are not. Anna, you are trully doing the work that jesus wanted people to do. You take action to help others and don't just sit around passing along videos like most. YOU..walk the walk. Thank you Anna. May you be protected by angels for your service to humanity. And may Native Americans and everyone else that has been harmed throughout history find ultimate peace and harmony, and blessings.
ReplyDelete