XML FeedsThe Red Road and the Black Road
There are many roads in life, but there are two that are important; the Red Road and the Black Road. They represent good and bad in every one’s life. It’s the two choices people have to make frequently in life. The Red Road is the good way, the good side, and the right choice. It is a road that is difficult with dangers and obstacles that are hard to travel on. The Black Road is the bad way, the bad side, and the wrong choice. The Black Road is wide and easy to travel. The Red Road and the Black Road appear in our lives not as roads but as the personifications of right and wrong, good and bad, light and dark.
The Lakota never were known to accumulate material goods. It was never done in pursuit of wealth; it was done to get around hard times or to help someone who ran short. Generosity has its rewards. The lack of it has its consequences. It was not practical for a nomadic people to accumulate too much because it only meant more to haul when the camp moved, which could be up to three or four times a year. The more you owned, the more you hauled.
Truth is the marker along the roads we travel in life. The Red Road has many markers. If you choose the Black Road, there is only the illusion of truth. We can be influenced by the truth or by illusion. Sometimes truth is like the wind. You cannot see it, but you can see the effect it has. Truth is also like the sunrise and sunset. We see the sun come up over the eastern horizon in the morning and then disappear behind the western horizon in the evening. From the perspective of our existence on a spinning globe, the sun appears to “rise” and “set.” In reality the sun does neither. Living a humble and giving life keeps one on the path of the Red Road.
Truth is the result of the trials and errors of life, the lessons we have learned such as “Without evil, goodness would be harder to recognize,” or “The first casualty of war is truth,” or “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” Some rise out of the illusions we have acquired. The truth is sometimes painful, but without it there is only illusion. The truth is the Lakota still walk the face of the earth. The truth is the Lakota survived traumatic change and are wiser and stronger because of it. The illusion is that the Lakota were defeated by a stronger, better, more moral people with more God-given rights than what the Lakota had. The truth is the Lakota were overwhelmed by numbers; more people with more guns needing more and more of what the Lakota had. The illusion is that the Lakota are a conquered people.
Life goes on, it continues to cycle. The sun comes up each morning and with it comes new opportunity, new hope. No matter what kind of day it was before, no matter what victories were celebrated, each new day is a chance to set the record straight, atone for a mistake, achieve another victory, and take another step on your journey. Each new day is a chance to be renewed and reborn-another opportunity to be part of the circle that is life, knowing that it is a journey, not a race, and that one does not travel it alone.
To walk the Red Road is to know sacrifice and suffering. It is to understand humility. It is the ability to stand naked before the Great Mystery in all things for your wrong doings, for your lack of strength, for your non-compassionate ways and for your arrogance. Because to walk the Red Road, you always know you can do better. And you know when you do good things it is through the Great Mystery and you are grateful. To walk the Red Road is to know you stand on equal ground with all living things. It is to know that because you were born human, it gives you superiority over nothing. It is to know that every creation carries a spirit and the river knows more than you do. The wind is wiser then you are. Animal people carry wisdom and YOU can learn from every one of them because they have something you do not. They are void of evil thoughts. They wish vengeance on no one and seek justice. To walk the Red Road, you have the Great Mystery’s given rights. You have the right to pray, you have the right to dance, you have the right to think, you have the right to protect, you have the right to know Mother, you have the right to dream, you have the right to vision, you have the right to teach, you have the right to learn, you have a right to grieve, you have a right to happiness, you have the right to fix wrongs, you have the right to truth and you have a right to the Spirit World. To Walk the Red Road is to know your Ancestors; to call to them for assistance. It is to know that there is good medicine and there is bad medicine. It is to know that Evil exists but is cowardly as it is often in disguise. It is to know there are evil spirits who are in constant watch for a way to gain strength for themselves at the expense of you. To Walk the Red Road, you have far less fear at being wrong because you know that life is a journey, a continuous circle, a sacred hoop. Mistakes will be made and mistakes can be corrected if you will be humble, for if you cannot be humble you will never know when you have made a mistake. If you walk the Red Road you know that every sorrow leads to a better understanding. Every horror cannot be explained but can offer growth. To Walk the Red Road is to look for beauty in all things. To Walk the Red Road is to know you will one day cross to the Spirit World and you will be not afraid.
~Walk the Red Road~ by songinwind. Music by AH*NEE*MAH
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Source: http://www.republicoflakotah.com/2009/the-red-road-and-the-black-road/
