The Power of a Wish
We are familiar with fairy tales and the magical powers of wishes from childhood. Growing out of childhood we thought of wishes as idle desires and so were blinded to their power. However, in Native American Indian spirituality, “The wish is the same as the action!” That is a beautiful concept—and also comforting—as we frequently fail to activate our wishes for others. Now, no longer bemoan that unfulfilled wish to visit a sick friend—by your wish it was accomplished!
This tribal wisdom contradicts the old English proverb, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” (a wish being a type of good intention). Native Americans would delightfully alter that proverb to read: “The road to heaven is paved with good wishes!” Don’t be hasty prejudicially dismissing this prairie spirituality because it is Indian, for it echoes the teachings of Rabbi Jesus.
Among his many titles of Teacher, Savior, Lord and Christ, the most accurate is Challenger. Jesus the Challenger asked for greatness from his disciples when he was among them and continues to today when he not only forbids acts of violence and murder, but also harmful evil thoughts! He taught that murderous thoughts toward another equal the act of murder, as having lustful thoughts equaled sexual immorality. His discipleship requirements in our modern day are considered unrealistically demanding, yet he would agree with Karl Marx who said, “If you make a small demand, you will get a small response!”
The challenging demands Jesus made of his disciples remain undiluted to this day—except by Christianity, which can result in a person being a good churchgoing Lutheran, Catholic or Presbyterian, while being a poor example of a disciple of Jesus.
This tribal wisdom contradicts the old English proverb, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” (a wish being a type of good intention). Native Americans would delightfully alter that proverb to read: “The road to heaven is paved with good wishes!” Don’t be hasty prejudicially dismissing this prairie spirituality because it is Indian, for it echoes the teachings of Rabbi Jesus.
Among his many titles of Teacher, Savior, Lord and Christ, the most accurate is Challenger. Jesus the Challenger asked for greatness from his disciples when he was among them and continues to today when he not only forbids acts of violence and murder, but also harmful evil thoughts! He taught that murderous thoughts toward another equal the act of murder, as having lustful thoughts equaled sexual immorality. His discipleship requirements in our modern day are considered unrealistically demanding, yet he would agree with Karl Marx who said, “If you make a small demand, you will get a small response!”
The challenging demands Jesus made of his disciples remain undiluted to this day—except by Christianity, which can result in a person being a good churchgoing Lutheran, Catholic or Presbyterian, while being a poor example of a disciple of Jesus.
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