THE MASTER'S CALL - A COWBOY/ST. PAUL STORY

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Both St. Paul and the cowboy in this song
get knocked off their horse, experience visions
involving "blinding light" or lightning,
hear their name called, and
see a vision of Christ their Savior. 
And both, of course, change their lives.
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The rest of it varies in the details.  In the song the guy had
been an "outlaw."  In Paul's storyline, he had been
guilty of running around persecuting Christians.
But they are both conversion/redemption stories.
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 It's easy to believe the cowboy ballad was inspired
 by the tale of  Paul's experience on the
road to Damascus. 
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When I was but a young man I was wild and full of fire
A youth within my teens, but full of challenge and desire
I ran away from home and left my mother and my dad
I know it grieved them so to think their only boy was bad

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I fell in with an outlaw band, their names were known quite well
How many times we robbed and plundered, I could never tell
This kind of sinful living leads only to a fall
I learned that much and more the night I heard my Master call

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One night we rustled cattle, a thousand head or so
And started them out on the trail that leads to Mexico
But a norther started blowing and lightning flashed about
I thought someone was calling me - thought I heard a shout

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Then at that moment lightning struck not twenty yards from me
And left there was a giant cross where once there was a tree
And this time I knew I heard a voice, a voice so sweet and strange
A voice that came from everywhere, a voice that called my name

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So frightened I was thinkin' of the sinful deeds I'd done
I failed to see the thousand head of cattle start to run
The cattle they stampeded and were running all around
My pony ran but stumbled and it threw me to the ground
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I felt the end was near, that death would be the price
When a mighty bolt of lightning showed the face of Jesus Christ
Then I cried oh Lord forgive me, don't let it happen now
I want to live for you alone, oh God these words I vow

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My wicked life unfolded and I thought of wasted years
When another bolt of lightning killed a hundred head of steers
And the others rushed on by me and I was left to live
The Master had a reason, life was His to take or give

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A miracle performed that night, I wasn't meant to die
The dead ones formed a barricade least six or seven high
And right behind it there was I, afraid but safe and sound
I cried and begged for mercy kneelin'  there upon the ground

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A pardon I was granted, and my sinful soul set free
No more to fear the angry waves upon life's stormy sea
Forgiven by the love of God, a love that will remain
I gave my life and soul the night the Savior called my name

I gave my life and soul the night the Savior called my name

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PRAYERS AND SONGS FROM AFRICA

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Our Lord and God Almighty,

we praise you,

for you created us all and made us

into many different tribes and nations,

that we may befriend one another

and that we may not despise each other.
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Open our hearts, we pray,

so that we may respond to the needs

of all our brothers and sisters.

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Oh Lord Jesus, bless all our lands

with more lasting peace and fraternal understanding.

Above all, heavenly Father,

touch the hearts of our political leaders

and all those in power.
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We pray that they may exercise power gently,

that they may humbly seek a disinterested dialogue

that will bring about understanding,

leading us all to a place where all nations and all people

live together in peace and harmony.
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Where there is bitterness teach us forgiveness and reconciliation,

replace hatred with love and indifference with care.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.
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Amen.

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Oh Lord Jesus Christ, who said to your apostles

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you”
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Give us courage to challenge the perpetrators of violence

and to change their behaviour.
Help us devote our whole life,

thought and energy to the task of making peace.
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We pray for a new Africa,

where fear, violent thoughts or action shall no longer exist,

and where selfishness will not lead people to

commit injustice to others.
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As for the peoples of every African tongue and race,

may your kingdom come;

your kingdom of justice, peace and love.

May peace prevail in Africa.

May peace prevail on earth.

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Amen.

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Lord, rightful advocate of peace.

God of power and mercy, please destroy war,

which results in a spiral of human suffering

and the destruction of your bountiful creation.

Eliminate violence from our midst and wipe away the tears.

Hear the cries of many African people

afflicted through the death of their loved ones.

Hear the sighs of those who live in constant fear,

Hear the cries of many African mothers

who suffer with hunger pains but still break their backs

to feed their families,

Hear the cries of those who have been displaced

and are facing hunger and scarcity.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour we pray.

Amen

All three prayers composed by
 Aneth Lwakatare
(Tanzania)
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THE PUEBLO INDIANS' FEATHERED FRIENDS

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Here's some good background music to
go with the text and images.

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Edited from PUEBLO BIRDS AND MYTHS

by Hamilton A. Tyler

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Pueblo Indian thinking has a style of its own, which is

usually just as recognizable as a style of house or of village architecture.  These styles seem to carry across the linguistic distinctions that divide the Pueblos into the Hopis, Zunis, Keres, Tewas, Tiwas, and Towas.  Such a diversity of tongues indicates at the very least a variety of separate influences that have been drawn together in the common Pueblo culture.  The gods were found to express this diversity, and it was only the style of relating to these divinities that showed a common religion.

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When we turn from the gods to another aspect of the surrounding world - that of the role of animals, birds, snakes, and lesser creatures - the common style of Pueblo thinking draws closer together.  Although the subject is too complex for simple formulas, it was evident that these animals provide a basic frame of reference in Pueblo ceremonialism.  Birds, in contradistinction to animals, have an advantage for use as simpler signs, because even individual feathers can stand for the bird or for the thought to be expressed.

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The Pueblos have been watching their birds for centuries

and during that time have incorporated these creatures into every aspect of community life.  Even such mundane tasks as building a room or planting a field require the presentation of feathers from particular birds, while in the rituals that support religious ceremonialism birds and their feathers become counters that keep a complex symbol system in order.  As signs, birds relate to gods, act as messengers between men and gods, or stand as signals between man and man.  As a part of the surrounding world, birds relate to all manner of natural phenomena and to weather control.

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When the spirits are addressed, prayer-sticks mounted with feathers are "planted" in fields or elsewhere to carry these messages.  Or again, detached feathers may be offered, in which case they are tied to strings of native cotton or placed around a wooden altar. Less frequently loose feathers are offered by placing them under stones or by casting them into streams and lakes.
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Most of the feathers used for this and other purposes are specified, not only the kind of bird but also the type of feather - whether primary wing, tail, downy breast, or whatever.  Because prayer-sticks relate to gods and spirits, all of the attached feathers are thought of as "breath-feathers."  Breath is the spirit part of any living thing, so it must hold the meanings and intentions that flow back and forth between men and spirits.  Birds are like the breath in that they travel through the air and become media for these breath messages.
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  If one is telling a myth or a story, the names of certain birds will be mentioned.  In folktales it may be only a "just-so" reference, telling how the woodpecker got his head bloodied and the like.  But more often there is a serious note; the birds name will signal to the listener one or more ideas for which that bird stands.  Many times ritual poetry is recited by Pueblo priests as part of a ceremony, and when a bird's name occurs in the poem it conveys an important meaning reference.
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From the sky, eagles survey the entire world, so these birds
or their abstractions become Beast gods of the Zenith.  Eagles are the only birds elevated to a place among other deities, but other birds are the forms gods take when traveling, so the point is not always distinct.  Between eagles flying within the sky's dome and the earthly turkeys, there are all of the other feathered kinds that fly close to man.  Some are related specifically to the sun, while others speak to the sun's seasons.
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Hummingbirds have rainbow hues and suck nectar from flowers.  Nectar is a quintessential liquid representing all the moist forces in growth and life.  Macaws or parrots likewise exemplify the wedding of sun and rain, because they are multihued.  None are found in the Pueblo area, but there is abundant archaeological evidence that imported macaws and parrots were kept in the villages from at least 1100 A.D., possibly earlier, which indicates that their feathers were as important then as in modern ceremonialism where they rank with those from eagles and turkeys.
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 Beyond the complexities and symbols there is a simpler Pueblo view that shines out at every turn as a pervading feeling of reverence for all wildlife.  Birds have many roles, but often they are simply spokesmen within a quiet cosmos, their voices an expression of processes that
 flow around mankind. 

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 A song from the Pueblo of Acoma sets the
 notes of a swallow, as it flies along a stream,
 to native words:
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Beni chi, beni chi, beni nu tsoutr,
Western river, western river, coming from the west,
Soya ta.
I sing of you.
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In the blending of bird notes with human voices
 there is always a harmony that
 all men can share.
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