I Was Born Where There Were No

I Cannot Think That We Are Useless Or God Would Not Have Created Us. There Is One God Looking Down On Us All. We Are All The Children Of One God. The Sun, The Darkness, The Winds Are All Listening To What We Have To Say.

When A Child My Mother Taught Me The Legends Of Our People; Taught Me Of The Sun And Sky, The Moon And Stars, The Clouds And Storms. She Also Taught Me To Kneel And Pray To Usen For Strength, Health, Wisdom, And Protection. We Never Prayed Against Any Person, But If We Had Aught Against Any Individual We Ourselves Took Vengeance. We Were Taught That Usen Does Not Care For The Petty Quarrels Of Men.

The Song That I Will Sing Is An Old Song, So Old That None Knows Who Made It. It Has Been Handed Down Through Generations And Was Taught To Me When I Was But A Little Lad. It Is Now My Own Song. It Belongs To Me. This Is A Holy Song (medicine-song), And Great Is Its Power. The Song Tells How, As I Sing, I Go Through The Air To A Holy Place Where Yusun (the Supreme Being) Will Give Me Power To Do Wonderful Things. I Am Surrounded By Little Clouds, And As I Go Through The Air I Change, Becoming Spirit Only.

We Had No Churches, No Religious Organizations, No Sabbath Day, No Holidays, And Yet We Worshiped. Sometimes The Whole Tribe Would Assemble To Sing And Pray; Sometimes A Smaller Number, Perhaps Only Two Or Three. The Songs Had A Few Words, But Were Not Formal. The Singer Would Occasionally Put In Such Words As He Wished Instead Of The Usual Tone Sound. Sometimes We Prayed In Silence; Sometimes Each One Prayed Aloud; Sometimes An Aged Person Prayed For All Of Us. At Other Times One Would Rise And Speak To Us Of Our Duties To Each Other And To Usen. Our Services Were Short.

Wisdom And Peace Come When You Start Living The Life The Creator Intended For You.