Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Original Visions by Rob Dufour
I didn’t get too far into this reading before I came across something in the intro that made me think a lot about myself and where I would like my life to go. I read the statement on the first page that was made by Lame Deer, who is a Sioux medicine man. Lame Deer talks about how it is a sacrifice to be a medicine man and eventually he will become one and some day he will then teach other medicine men. Lame Deer reminisces how he will never kill or harm any one and he will learn how to heal people, yet he will ask for nothing in return. He closes with stating that a man’s life is short and we must make it a worthy one. What Lame Deer said here was important to me because I hope that one day I will be a medicine man for my own culture. There are clearly differences in a medicine man of either culture, but when it comes down to it they are still charged with protecting and healing the people of the village. A medicine man of a tribal culture is equally concerned with ones spiritual health as he is with their physical health, however I would say that a good doctor in our culture would almost weigh them just as close. That’s what good bed side manner is all about – in the words of Patch Adams, “You treat a disease, you win, you lose – you treat a person I’ll guarantee you will win.” A medicine man or doctor doesn’t have the great stress-free lifestyle that many of us would love, but it is such an important part to any culture no matter if they are literate, tribal, oral, whatever. I view the job of a medicine man as the second most important job in any culture. I view teachers as having the most important because without teachers the doctors would know nothing and serve no purpose, but aside from teachers I believe medicine men have the most important job because without our health, what do we have? Like I said earlier, I believe that the word health encompasses everything from spiritual health to mental health to physical health – all of which a medicine man is in charge of protecting. While I’m beginning to move on with my reading I remember the last thing Lame Deer said which was “Life is short, make yours a worthy one.” I hope so.
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Joanna Andrusko
I am glad you made that connection because I hadn't thought of it that way before. It's interesting to think of how the missionary is the most mysterious person to many main-stream Christians, just as the medicine man or healer is the most mysterious person among the Native society. I think that they are so because they willingly choose the arduous path. They abandon the comforts of living a normal life in order to be help others. This is a most mysterious trait to most of us. Who would choose a life of servitude that reaps little to no benefits? Some of the most influential leaders in our life have chosen that path and they remain so revered in part because they are so misunderstood. What is the appeal in a dangerous and uphill battle? Imploring the almighty to help reach people. Often it feels as if it is not responding. I used to view missionaries as weird in my youth, I had cousins who were missionaries in South American and I did not understand it. Why abandon your nation-given right to freedom and comfort? You were born American, my family and I came here seeking that same freedom. Why go back to South America? South America is in turmoil, it is a stepping stone for the strong America. Why go from masters to servants to those people? As I have grown older and have began to evolve in my faith it has made more sense. That is what Jesus did. That is what people who have felt a call in their lifetime have done for centuries. That is what all of we who subscribe to a power more omnipotent than ourselves are called to do. It is not we who are the normal in our religion, it is the medicine man, the missionary.
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