Transparent Belief

Scene Description from Sacajawea, the Windcatcher: 
It is summer, 1805. Sacajawea and the men are searching for the Shoshoni village so they can trade for the horses they need to cross the mountains. Though Sacajawea has been away for four years, she remembers the landscapes, the wild vegetables growing in the meadows, the summer rains. She also remembers the loss of her family, the harsh realities of her life and starvation while her people waited for the buffalo to return. Sacajawea does not forget her teachings and despite the hard memories, she stays true to her belief.

The men pull and push the canoes up the rushing river. And, sometimes they drag the boats, loaded with their baggage, through the rocky dirt because the water is just a trickle. They push on, as they are ordered to do by the captains…

One day, Sacajawea literally jumps for joy when she recognizes Beaver’s Head rock shooting up from the plains. They are near the summer camp of her people! The men see this as, “getting closer to the horses they need.” While Sacajawea sees it in a much deeper way. Through her transparent belief, she claims whatever answers are before her because she knows everything comes from the Great Father…

Sacajawea’s people relied on their Belief to exist. Their circumstance was not always easy. They followed the buffalo for their food, they relied on a shelter of logs and animal skins for their protection, they trusted that the river would keep flowing and the sun would come up and the vegetables would grow in the summer. Sometimes, the things beyond their control caused hunger, sacrifice and loss… They did not always have immediate answers – but their prayers never stopped. They were not distracted by false security like today, for their experiences were on the edge of fear, yet they chose to trust Creator’s brilliant Light.

That is where we must go in our own life. Are we truly happy only when we have enough to eat? Would we share the shirt off our back, even if it meant we would be cold? Would we be willing to go “without” to lift someone else? And, if we have nothing, are we angry, are we fearful, are we driven to take matters into our own hands and hurt someone or ourselves? It is easy to believe when life is easy. But that is not Transparent Belief. The irony of Truth is: When we feel we have nothing, we have an opportunity to remember we actually have everything.

Sacajawea was taught to rely on her instincts and believe her needs would be taken care of because she Loved her Creator — even when all seemed lost. The men of the expedition were from a different world. Sacajawea took the opportunity to show them something else…

Let us pray together in gratitude that Sacajawea’s story will soon be told to a world that needs to hear it. For we know, through transparent belief, the answers we seek are already here!