In this life, we are moved by two great feelings: joy and pain.
When joy enters our hearts, it gives us wings. Our strength becomes alive again. Our mind becomes clearer. Our understanding opens. We are better able to walk through this world, to meet our responsibilities, and to discover the place where our gifts can serve the people, the land, and all our relatives.
But when sadness comes upon us, our strength can feel far away. Our mind becomes clouded. Our understanding grows dim. The sacred meaning of life can seem hidden from us, and the eyes of our spirit may struggle to see the deeper mysteries that are always present around us.
No human being walks this world untouched by these two powers. Every one of us knows both joy and sorrow. Every one of us has felt the sunlight of the spirit and the heaviness of the material world.
Yet we must remember this: the deepest sorrow does not come from the world of the spirit. The spiritual world brings light, courage, healing, and joy. It reminds us that we are more than our suffering, more than our losses, more than the passing conditions of this earthly life.
Much of our pain comes from becoming too attached to the things that pass away, possessions, opinions, fears, disappointments, and the changing conditions of this world. These things are not wrong in themselves, but they are not strong enough to bear the full weight of our souls.
All around us, we can see that material things alone cannot give lasting peace. They cannot give true comfort. They cannot give the deep consolation the heart is longing for. They rise and fall, come and go, appear and disappear like shadows on the water.
So we must turn our hearts toward the place where true treasures are found.
The doors of the spiritual world are open to every soul. The way of the Great Mystery is not closed. Wakan Tanka, the Beloved Creator of All Good Things, has placed within each of us a sacred doorway, a doorway to peace, to healing, to courage, to wisdom, and to joy that does not depend on the changing winds of this world.
When we remember this, we begin to walk differently. We do not deny pain, but we do not let pain become our whole identity. We do not reject this world, but we no longer expect the passing things of this world to give us what only the spirit can give.
Then, even in hardship, we can rise again. Even in sorrow, we can remember the light. Even in the darkness, we can turn toward the open door of the spirit and find that the Great Mystery has never abandoned us.