WithMentalReservations

I have been an atheist for most of my adult life.  At times, I have been an angry one, profoundly enraged by the bigotry and hatred espoused by many different sects of mainstream religion in the U.S. and elsewhere.  Part of this comes from having to battle the "creationists" who will not accept the fact of evolution, and from defending LGBT rights from the condemnations and political machinations of hateful ministers and their followers.  I find myself in the company of some notable folks, Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins being two of note.  But some of you will note the tone of the blog I posted about Grandfather William Commanda.  And I must admit, having visited his gathering and been allowed to spend time in the midst of First Nations people, I am conflicted because of their very spiritual way of being.  For them, life cannot be separated from spirit, and they feel a unity with all living things and with the earth, whom they revere as "Mother."...

Today, at the age of 97, Grandfather William Commanda, Keeper of the Sacred Wampum Belts, died at his home at Kitigan Zibi in southern Ontario.  I had the enormous honor of meeting this extraordinary man at a gathering at his home a few years back.  It is difficult to express the aura that surrounded this humble man, but it was palpable even at a distance.  All at the gathering held him in reverent respect. Perhaps a thousand folks, mostly Algonquin, but including other first-nations representatives, and visitors from as far away as New Zealand and South America, gathered for 3 days on his land.  Each morning would begin with a prayer and I was able to arrive early enough on the last morning to participate in it.  Inside the sacred circle where the fire had been burning since the beginning of the gathering, a number of elders were seated.  A young Lakota man led the prayer, and knowing that there were non-natives in the audience, explained the ceremony....