Indigenous Meditations on Hope and Courage

On Thanksgiving, I shared an indigenous blessing with my Wesley Willows dinner mates. In return, one of them shared a valued book written by a Choctaw elder, Steven Charleston, Ladder to the Light: An Indigenous Elder’s Meditations on Hope and Courage, published in 2021. I received the book this past week and I’m already feeling the spiritual insights.

The author, Steven Charleston, was born on the Choctaw reservation in Oklahoma, a Choctaw word meaning “red people.” Historically, 5 different southern American tribes were forced in the trail of tears to walk from their tribal lands to Oklahoma by Andrew Jackson.

Besides his traditional native American spiritual background, Steven learned his parents’ Christian religion. Spirit was a major factor in his development. He became an ordained Episcopal priest on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and served as the bishop of Alaska. However, he also practices Zen meditation and honors the teachings of the Buddha. Now in his retirement, he inspires people to trust their spiritual traditions, encouraging hope and courage.

His latest book is an extended metaphor of a Kiva, an underground, dark, worship space, accessed by a ladder. He views the kiva as a kind of womb, a nurturing shelter rather than a fearful place. But the goal is to ascend the ladder, one rung at a time, to enter the real, bright world, bringing hope and courage to cope with our dark, discouraging environment.

Each rung of the ladder is a chapter in his book. The basis of the meditations is a year’s collection of Steven’s morning prayers, usually conducted outside, starting with acknowledgement of the four directions, the earth and the sky. He then meditates, opening his heart to the spirit of the universe. He writes these meditations in his daily Facebook post. He has selected particular posts for each of 8 chapters, or rungs of the ladder. He also offers a narrative explanation of each post.

I invite you to watch this 20:27 minute interview with Steven Charleston,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmv5wxjVjDc

The book is available from Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle versions.

Submitted by Teresa Wilmot