WindTurtle Studio
Spirituality
We do not want churches because they will teach us to quarrel about God. We do not want to learn that. We may quarrel with men sometimes about things on this earth, but we never quarrel about the Great Spirit. We do not want to learn that. — Heinmot Tooyalaket (Chief Joseph) of the Nez Percés, 1873 All things in the world are two. In our minds we are two — good and evil. With our eyes we see two things — things that are fair and things that are ugly . . . . We have the right hand that strikes and makes for evil, the left hand full of kindness, near the heart. One foot may lead us to an evil way, the other foot may lead us to a good. So are all things two, all two. — Eagle Chief, Letakots-Lesa, (late 19th century) Pawnee
A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner: "Inside of me there two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time." When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, "The one I feed the most." — source unknown
We had no churches, no religious organizations, so sabbath day, no holidays, and yet we worshiped. Sometimes the whole tribe would assemble and 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 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. — Geronimo, Goyathlay (1829-1909) Chiricahua Apache Chief
Natives who beat drums to drive off evil spirits are objects of scorn to smart Americans who blow horns to break up traffic jams — Mary Ellen Kelly
I believe what Jesus said, but Jesus never said priests couldn't be fools. — Jean-Luc Godard
To love God truly one must first love man. And if anyone tells you that he loves God and does not love his fellow man, you will know that he's lying. — Hassidic saying
He does not believe who does not live according to his belief. — Thomas Fuller
The best way to know God is to love many things. — Vincent van Gogh
The religious is afraid of going to hell, the spiritual has been there. — source unknown
The belief that there is only one truth, and that oneself is in possession of it, it the root of all evil in the world. — Max Born
Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you a car. — Laurence J. Peter
It is not enough to belong to a religion. You also have to put it into practice. Religion is like medicine. You have to ingest it to combat the illness. — the Dalai Lama