Weekly Peace Prayer

Indigenous Peoples’ Day -   (October 12, 2026)
Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a day to recognize Indigenous people and the contributions they’ve made to history, as well as to mourn those lost to genocide by western colonization—and to remember that Native Americans were actually here long before European settlers showed up on our shores. In 1977, the United Nations International Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas proposed that Indigenous Peoples Day replace Columbus Day.

Constitutions:
We value the mutuality that empowers people
to share in decisions that affect their lives,
and to work in a collaborative way
to achieve this.
Whatever our ministry,
we act on the belief that only in freedom
can persons assume responsibility for their lives. #26

Reading: Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Nation

If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian,
he can live in peace....
Treat all men alike.
Give them all the same law.
Give them all an even chance to live and grow.
All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief.
They are all brothers.
The Earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.......
Let me be a free man,
free to travel,
free to stop,
free to work,
free to trade....
where I choose my own teachers,
free to follow the religion of my fathers,
free to think and talk and act for myself,
and I will obey every law, or submit to the penalty.
. . .
Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired.
My heart is sick and sad.
From where the sun now stands,
I will fight no more forever.

A Prayer for Indigenous Peoples' Day
Creator of All,
We thank you for the land, the waters, and the skies, and for the original stewards who have cared for them with wisdom and reverence for generations.

Open our ears and our hearts to the voices and traditions of the Indigenous peoples who have walked this earth before us and who continue to enrich our communities today. Grant us the grace to recognize the deep pain of historical and ongoing injustices, and guide us in healing the wounds of the past.

Inspire us to move beyond words into meaningful action—to stand as allies, pursue true justice, and live in genuine harmony with one another and with the world you have made.
Amen.

Quiet Reflection

Reading: Chief Dan George
(He was a chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, a Coast Salish band whose Indian reserve is located on Burrard Inlet in the southeast area of the District of North Vancouver.)
The time will soon be here when my grandchild will long for the cry of a loon, the flash of a salmon, the whisper of spruce needles, or the screech of an eagle. But he will not make friends with any of these creatures and when his heart aches with longing, he will curse me. Have I done all to keep the air fresh? Have I cared enough about the water? Have I left the eagle to soar in freedom? Have I done everything I could to earn my grandchild's fondness?                                                                              

Prayer:
The beauty of the trees, the softness of the air,
            the fragrance of the grass, they speak to me.

The summit of the mountain, the thunder of the sky,
            the rhythm of the sea, speaks to me.

The faintness of the stars, the freshness of the morning,
            the dewdrop on the flower, speaks to me.

The strength of the fire, the taste of the salmon,
            the trail of the sun, and the life that never goes away,
            they speak to me.

And my heart soars.                           
‍ ‍Chief Dan George

Quiet Reflection

Prayer:
Earth teach me stillness
as the grasses are stilled with light.

Earth teach me limitation
as the ant which crawls on the ground.

Earth teach me freedom
as the eagle which soars in the sky.

Earth teach me resignation
as the leaves which die in the fall.

Earth teach me regeneration
as the seed which rises in the spring.

Earth teach me to forget myself
as melted snow forgets its life.

Earth teach me to remember kindness
as dry fields weep with rain.
‍ ‍The Ute of North America