THE SEEDS OF DESTRUCTION #2

THE SEEDS OF DESTRUCTION #2

JEALOUSY

Jealousy is also one of the seeds of destruction. We can see it in our communities. These seeds are what we banish from our hearts and minds when we purify ourselves. That is when we become humble. Then there is room for God in our hearts and lives.

Each one of us comes here to do something good, to contribute to the wellbeing of our Tribe. Some of us bring humor and laughter. Those ones know how to lift up the spirits of other people.

Some are historians. That is a very sacred duty. They “remember” everything that happens. They can tell the history of our people so we will never forget.

Some people know the plant medicines. They know what will heal our bodies and our minds and our spirits.

Some people are good parents. They raise good healthy happy human beings.

Some are good hunters and fishermen. Some are good berry pickers and know which roots and plants to gather. They feed our bodies and our spirits.

We have artists that record our life and bring beauty and truth into our lives. We have singers and dancers.

Everyone has something important to contribute. We need each other for a healthy happy complete Tribe.

The Creator asks us to do the best we can in everything we do. He doesn’t ask us to be better than anyone else. That is where jealousy sets in.

We see our short comings when we measure ourselves against another. We start feeling insecure and inferior. There will always be someone who does something better than us. Maybe it is their work here on earth.

Each of us has something important to contribute. It is our life’s work. It may not be our profession. There is something that only we can do.

If we become jealous of someone and suppress that person and what they are good at, we may be suppressing what we need for our healing. It is to our benefit to allow each person to be the best they can be. It does not diminish anyone else to do that.

Our jealousy forces us to undermine another’s efforts. We may be jealous of artists or writers. They may have a way of interpreting our life in a way we can’t. That in no way interferes with what we have to contribute.

I have seen people in Tribal education stop a person in their tracks. They won’t fund one person who is doing well, they will fund another who fails in their attempt at schooling. In their jealousy they may be stopping a person who should be a doctor or other healer or a journalist a judge or cop or a playwright or lawyer or biologist or chemist. Maybe they stopped the person that was supposed to find the cure for cancer. Jealousy makes us do stupid things.

Each one of us has come here to do something good and to contribute to our Tribes. Each one of us is important. If we let jealousy into our hearts we are doomed. That European adage that we are only as strong as our weakest link is true.

Sometimes when we put someone else down we fool ourselves into thinking that we are better than that person. We think that we have advanced because we look down on someone else.

That is so silly. We know that we haven’t advanced. All we have done is to destroy someone else’s happiness and the work they came to do. We have stopped that person’s unique contribution to the Tribe. We have stopped their help and healing.

We must allow each other to be the best we can be. We must not measure ourselves against another.

Sometimes in our jealousy to hold someone else back we spend all our own energy. We miss our opportunity to do something good. We don’t do whatever unique thing we came here to do.

Once we stop allowing jealousy to hold us back we will make a giant leap down that right road. Our Tribes will be healthier and happier. Our world will become more balanced.