Returning With Joy

The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’ He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’ At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’ Then turning to the disciples, Jesus said to them privately, ‘Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.’ Luke 10:17-24

All of our tribal dances are a thanksgiving to the Creator. We dance in gratitude for the safe return of our soldiers, for surviving harsh seasons, for bounteous crops and for new life among us. With each contact of moccasins with the sacred earth, our mother, we are giving thanks and offering our love and prayers for our people. We give thanks each morning, in simple ways, but always with the joy of family, present and those always with us. Those who returned to Jesus bubbled over with joy. Their fears and worries were put aside as God's love brought about great miracles despite their human limitations.

Loving Creator, we wake with joy

the daylight welcomes us again

the birdsong reminds us to give thanks

for the new life this day will surely bring.

Too often we are fearful and worried

too often we forget to be ever grateful

despite our frailty and our broken ways

you promise to restore the circle bringing us home.

Let us always face the challenges before us

with the hope and wonder of small children

let our feet touch the earth so we are grounded

in your love and support on all our journeys. Amen.