November 14, 2024
by the Rev. Shaneequa Brokenleg
The Rev. Shaneequa’s reflection after the recent election is a powerful reminder of resilience, unity, and love. Amid fear and uncertainty, she draws on Lakota values and the teachings of the early church, inspiring us to face challenges with bravery, generosity, wisdom, and perseverance. May her words guide and uplift us.
When I woke up and saw the results of the election, I was initially sad and fearful. I fear for myself as a person of color, a member of the LGBT community, and an Indigenous person. I fear for those I love, especially my LGBTQIA2S+, people of color, and immigrant siblings. I fear for the Earth and our environment.
Then I remembered something that I’ve said before, “When faced with adversity we must react out of a place of love, not fear.”
As Indian people (and other communities, too) we have endured all that came our way: genocide, boarding schools, relocation, abuse, racism, environmental degradation, resource extraction, and we survived. We are still here, and we will survive whatever comes our way into the future.
I think that this will be a time to remember and practice the four Lakota values.
Woohitika (bravery): At this time we need to be brave and do what is right even in the midst of chaos and fear but especially in the midst of injustice and oppression.
Wacantognaka (generosity): We need to be generous with our hearts, ourselves, and our friends, as well as our time, talents, and treasures.
Woksape (wisdom): With knowledge comes power. We need to educate ourselves and others. We need to accept the things we cannot change, change the things we can, and be wise enough to know the difference (serenity prayer).
Wowacintanka (fortitude/endurance/perseverance): “We too should run the race the Creator has set before us” and persevere through injustice, oppression, and adversity in the years to come.
As a Christian I am reminded that Christianity originated as a religion of the poor and oppressed, not the rich and powerful. I think for many Christian communities of color (and others) this has always been the case. However, for many of us, we have only seen Christianity (or our denomination) as a religion of the affluent and powerful. Our new reality will be an opportunity to remember the early church—a church that was often in conflict and persecuted by those in power.
People say that Sunday morning is the time our country is the most segregated. Our new reality will be an opportunity to remember and mimic an early church where all Christians—rich and poor, slaves and free, men and women, Jews and Gentiles—were part of a community, together, as one. One that didn’t always agree with those in power, one that resisted when it needed to, and one that persevered for thousands of years through all that came its way.
No matter what happened in the election, we are still related to all of creation, and we are all still called to be good relatives to one another. We are still called to be in community with one another. We are still called to be Christ’s hands, feet, and heart in the world. Finally, we are still called to come from a place of love, loving our neighbors as ourselves.