Creator's Prayer
“O Great Spirit, our Father from above, we honor your name as sacred and holy.
“Bring your good road to us, where the beauty of your ways in the spirit-world above is reflected in the earth below.
“Provide for us day by day—the elk, the buffalo, and the salmon. The corn, the squash, and the wild rice. All the things we need for each day.
“Release us from the things we have done wrong, in the same way we release others for the things done wrong to us.
“Guide us away from the things that tempt us to stray from your good road, and set us free from the evil one and his worthless ways. Aho! May it be so!
— Matthew 6.9-13, First Nations Version
I’ve been reading the First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament lately and enjoying it despite initially having some aversions to the language and “pan-Indianism” aspects of the translation, but I think I’m over that now. I do love the framing of the Lord’s prayer (above) as well as the translation stating Christ’s carrying the cross as “His Trail of Tears.” Empires remain violent and the innocent still suffer. May Creator Sets Free (Jesus) rescue us from the evils of this world.