Walking in Beauty, the Heart of the Navajo

One of the most powerful Navajo prayers is this chant:

With beauty before me may I walk
With beauty behind me may I walk
With beauty above me may I walk
With beauty all around me,
may I walk.

This concept of beauty, within and without, is central to the  Navajo conception of life and the universe.  As the earth faces an ever-increasing array of challenges with humankind separated from the natural world as the twin ideas of bigness and the importance of greed and choice at the center of American decision-making, Native American communities have a lot to say about the culture and values that are important to rediscover if balance, another central tribal idea, is to be brought back to the earth.

Thomas Davis helped found the College of the Menominee     Nation with Dr. Verna Fowler and was a leader in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education and supercomputing.  During his years in education, he helped found national and international organizations, including the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium, that have affected the lives of American Indians and indigenous peoples from around the world. He is an active novelist and poet.

Service Leader: Donna Johnson      Music: Carol Boyd