As the days shorten and the nights grow longer I feel the need to pause for a minute to recognize the perpetual light in my life. The Sun has made a profound impact on my life this year. Personally, I have begun to align myself with daily prayer to the Sun for the many gifts it brings to my life each and every day.
Early in the summer the men in our community made the annual march to Chair Mountain at the base of the Elk Mountain Range east of Paonia to pray and make offerings of gratitude to Father Tau for the power of the Sun for the many gifts it brings to our lives. We ask permission to harness its power for an intentional living community called the Mesa Life Project.
Before we started, our trip leader Gary paused to tell the group a story and set an intention for our trek. This was about a Hopi elder named Monongye, who lived to be 105 and who was a guest at an energy forum at the Llama Foundation in New Mexico. He was asked what he thought about solar energy. He replied, “Solar energy, no good. You no ask permission.” After his exit from the room a pipe ceremony was held.
It never occurred to me to ask the Sun for permission to harness its energy through photo cell technology and make offerings of gratitude. How simple and how naive I’ve been! We humans in this society feel we are entitled to take without any form of exchange. We’ve made this trip for several years now to Chair Mountain but this time I asked Gary how long we would need to make this trip. Gary replied “forever”.
By Paul Varecha
(Photo by Donna Figg)
