SITTING BULL

Exhausted from riding all day,
Jim was chased by a party of Soiux,
His gun was fastest of all they did say,
He was the bravest of warriors they knew.

Pearl-handled Colts round his waist he did wear,
And his rifle was Remington true,
While fishing one day, he killed him a bear,
In the Red River land of the Soiux.

The spirit of the bear was a dear totem true,
Of the warrior they called Crazy Horse,
For killing the bear he would give him his due,
He would scalp him with animal force.

But Jim was a man who prayed every day,
At sunrise you'd find him at prayer,
A kindly man with a courteous way,
He was in all things exceedlingly fair.

The Chief of the Soiux, Sitting Bull was his name,
Like Jim was renowned for his prayer,
At Little Bighorn one day in a vision that came,
He was warned about Jim to beware.

The party of Soiux, with Crazy Horse in the band,
Were hot on the trail of Jim's horse,
They tracked it by sight in the Red River sand,
And found it tied up in due course.

The party of twelve, with the Chief in the lead,
Began howling like wolves for the slaughter,
Sitting Bull warned them off, away from this deed,
For in his vision, their blood flowed like water.

Then Crazy Horse charged at Jim from his side,
And like a bear made a growl most amazing,
And though he lived, three warriors died,
For in a flash, Jim's pistols were blazing.

Sitting Bull viewed the blood with disgust,
As Crazy Horse hung his head in defeat,
The Chief challenged, "Where is your trust?"
And with one leap, he was soon on his feet.

Then with nothing but a stick held in his hand,
The Chief's wild cry did frighten beast and man,
At Jim he ran while terror filled his band,
And with the stick did hit him, as he ran.

Jim well knew why the stick had hit his head,
By "counting coup" the Chief had saved the band,
Guns back in belt, Jim viewed the Indian dead,
Then bowed to one, the bravest in the land.

The Chief bowed back and looked him in the eye,
And started chanting prayers of those in mourning,
To all he did shout, "It's a good day to die!"
Giving thanks for the vision and the warning.

And with Sitting Bull still chanting prayer,
Toward Little Bighorn now the band did run,
The men complained, "Our life does not seem fair!"
We have no tales of battles we have won.

Then Sitting Bull did call to all his men,
To them he said you know I do not lie.
The Spirit said a victory we'll win,
At Little Bighorn soon our enemies will die.

And the power of his words, to the Indian band,
Gave courage to their hearts without delay,
For the prophesy foretold "Custer's Last Stand,"
And the glory for Crazy Horse that fatal day

And from Minnesota to Platte Rivers,
From Mississippi through the Plains,
The Little Bighorn still delivers,
A freedom spirit that never wanes.

And Sitting Bull, and his sacred role,
Is still honored by the nations of the Plains,
Great wisdom flowed from his prophetic soul,
And the glory of his vision still remains.

So let people rejoice in God's Indian nations,
The Messiah"s your joy when you dance the "Ghost Dance,"
To Mary revealed through angelic revelations,
Praise His Name, Eyayo'yo'! Haye'ye' Eyayo'yo!

End

By the grace of God" Jesus tasted death "for every one." In his plan of salvation, God ordained that his Son should not only "die for our sins" but should also "taste death", experience the condition of death, the separation of his soul from his body, between the time he expired on the cross and the time he was raised from the dead. Almighty God has ordained this reality, and this experience, for each one of us. We spend our lives playing hide and seek from this truth, i.e., that someday we are going to die. Now the time and circumstances of our physical death are in God's hands, and we are not allowed to take our own life under pain of serious sin against God. However, it is an act of Loving heroism to make a psychological acceptance of death in the present moment, as did the Christian Martyrs, and as must those with a terminal illness, in line with God's will. For someday, for all of us, our own physical death will be God's Will.

. So there is a better way than hide and seek for those who are able to accept it, and who are serious about God's call to "radical love" in this life. For at the same time He made death a terrible punishment for man's sin, God set in motion "A Way" that we might transform this punishment into the ultimate vehicle for Overcoming Love and Eternal Life. And that, of course, is through the "Faith" by which we participate in the Resurrection from Death through the God-Man, Jesus Christ. For Christians are those with a journey to make, who are baptized into the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And before our physical death when God wills it, we must psychologically die to the Old Man of attachment to this life. By so doing we give birth to the New Man of attachment to "the one thing necessary:" the Love of God, Who is Eternal Life.

And our faith is made perfect, as we share in the drink of the martyrs, and show our ultimate trust and Self-Giving Love to God in the gift of our "psychological acceptance," of our own death and all that goes with it. It may be years away, but our full acceptance of it, now, places our will completely in line with the Will of Jesus Christ, The Lamb of God, Who, by the Free Gift of His Death, takes away the sins of the world! It is also a voluntary act of cooperation with the asceticism which frees us from the slavery of our attachment and desire for a permanent home in this world, as opposed to a permanent home in the next world with Jesus Christ and the heavenly host.

In a similar vein, there is a powerful phrase uttered by Job during the period of his intense suffering, when his life was turned upside down by suffering and the death of loved ones. He considered the misery and despair all around him, and instead of givning in to self-pity, he girded his loins and uttered: "The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!" Why do we think this story is in the Bible? Is there no lesson for us here? It is the same lesson we have been talking about in connection with our own death. Instead of giving in to the "natural" reaction of hatred and despair, Job responded to grace with a "supernatural reaction," as he offered the "sacrifice of praise." He psychologically accepted loss of all property and the death of his loved ones as God's Will in his life, and, in so doing, psychologically sacrificed himself, offering the equivalent of his own death, to God by the powerful phrase, "The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord. And in the end, Job was rewarded a hundredfold for all he suffered and sacrificed. It is always that way with God.

"So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan which moves
To that mysterious realm, where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.
(from William Cullen Bryant. "Thanatopsis"- )

"If we ought to adhere in this way to all Christ's mysteries, there are two mysteries to which we ought specially to bind ourselves and which we ought to reproduce in our persons. These are the mysteries of death and resurrection. "To rise with Christ", we must "die with Him". This necessity cannot be avoided if we would ensure not only our salvation, but also the perfection of our praise and the efficacy of our religion, because it is to the extent that we are dead to ourselves and living in and through Christ that we attain the end for which we were created: to give God as much glory as possible."(Cardinal Berulle)

We accept our own participation in this ultimate reality, no one escapes, anyway, by thanking and"praising" God, as did St Francis, for "Sister Death"... now! For when we praise God for something, we are giving our full acceptance to what He has ordained. We are demonstrating Heroic Love by "trusting Him," in a Christ-like manner, beyond the limits of natural understanding. We ask God to join our present gift, the psychological acceptance of death, now, whenever it may come physically in the future, with Jesus' sacrifice for sin and sinners.

And keep in mind what St John of the Cross said about death. He pointed out that the death of those who love God, and have overcome the World and the Flesh, is a "gentle" experience. It is a gentle going forth into the warm, loving arms of One Who Loves us. For such as these, death should hold no terror because they have already participated in the spiritual funeral of the false-self, the center of the real pain and suffering connected with physical death. So for these, death's power has been overcome through their transformation in "The Way of Jesus Christ," including, through His Love, the mortification and purification of the attachments, addictions, and energy links which selfishly bound them to this world. And they have already participated in the suffering which makes death difficult, through their self-denial and participation in the "dark nights," which brought about the spiritual and pschological death of the "Old Man," and the spiritual and psychological birth of the "New Man" in Jesus Christ.

What is death like for a contemplative saint?

The contemplative saint has no fear of death. With St Paul, this soul proclaims that “to die is gain.” Why? Because, like St Paul, this soul is “crucified to life in this world.” This soul has already undergone “the sting of death” through its voluntary self-crucifixion to the attachments connected with the animal part of human life, including spiritually rooted bodily desires , and those selfish possessions, of body and spirit, which constitute a large portion of our “ life in this world.” It now lives and loves through the one life of a Godly spirit, sustained by its spiritual marriage and union with the Spirit of God.

The life of the soul, although begun in this world, is immortal, and can never die. Dying has to do with body life, and spiritual pain caused by attachment to such life. Physical death is just separation of the earth-bound body from the living spirit. The spirit consciously lives more fully in God at death, and the only thing that is “buried in the ground” is the animal flesh of the lifeless, soul-less, body. And, as we alluded to above, the soul in this world, that has its life fully in the spirit, has already undergone the hardest part of such separation. Moreover, from a postive point of view, death, or separation from the body, is the happy occasion for the perfect soul to break free from the impediments to the fullness of life provided by bondage to the flesh. Death, from this point of view, is desirable, as it is the opportunity for the soul to live where it loves, in the visible presence of the Risen Christ, looking forward to a new, spiritualized, resurrected body, and living in communion with the heavenly host in the Glory of the New Heavens and New Earth, in the fullness of the Beatific Vision.

St John of the Cross discusses the death of the perfect soul in the Spiritual Canticle below.

”The soul knows well that in the instant of that vision it will be itself absorbed and transformed into that beauty, and be made beautiful like it, enriched, and abounding in beauty as that beauty itself. This is why David said, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints," but that could not be if they did not become partakers of His glory, for there is nothing precious in the eyes of God except that which He is Himself, and therefore, the soul, when it loves, fears not death, but rather desires it.

Moreover, St John continues: ”The soul lives there where it loves, rather than in the body which it animates. The soul does not live by the body, but, on the contrary, gives it life, and lives by love in that which it loves. For beside this life of love which it lives in God Who loves it, the soul has its radical and natural life in God, like all created things, according to the saying of St. Paul: "In Him we live, and move, and are;" that is, our life, motion, and being is in God.”(Spiritual Canticle)

So, if you are able, offer this sacrifice of praise now for the unsaved one you live with, you are married to, you know at work, your child or relative, or whoever. Offer it for sinners. Although death may be far off for you, psychologically it is a powerful gift to give God when you fully accept it in the present moment. And, in like manner, you may offer up the grief and psychological death you have suffered from the loss of your mate or loved ones as a powerfully transformative "sacrifice of praise." Then get in the habit of offering up the mini-deaths you undergo from the sicknesses you suffer, even though you seek medical help to relieve them, along with every other kind of loss in your life. By each of these acts you are opening your soul to the annointings of the Holy Spirit.

Each time the fearful thought of death arises, (assuming that you have not yet reached the perfection of St Paul, or sanctity) renew your sacrifice of praise! And each renewal will be a new Gift of Love as you Join Jesus on the Cross! And after these sacrifices, what is left for you to fear? And there is nothing morbid nor negative about this gift of accepting death, anymore than there was in Christ's Gift of Himself to us and to the Father. For the essence of your gift, as well as Christ's, is "Overcoming Love." Death is merely the finite instrument which gives us the means to participate in that heroic Love. And as St Paul told us, "Perfect love casts out fear!"

(Ibid. "Thanatopsis" )..... "When thoughts
Of the last bitter hour come like a blight
Over thy spirit, and sad images
Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall,
And breathless darkness, and the narrow house,
Make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart"
Praise Him! Show heroic courage and trust in His Love!
Fill your spirit with thanks and Bless His Holy Name.
For in Christ Jesus we are more than conquerors!

Remember! "Greater love than this no man hath, than to lay down his life for a friend!" And the psychological laying down of one's life, in acceptance of death and sickness is an act of heroic love, and can be just as difficult, and just as meritorious, as the acceptance of the physical act of dying. So, as John Paul II, and Mother Teresa would say, "What are you waiting for? Make a virtue of necessity! Make God a beautiful gift today!"

Then in the future, when "your summons comes to join the innumerable caravan," and death is at your door, begin to slowly and continuously repeat the Name of Jesus to yourself. Let His Presence guide you in the final hour. Let His loving companionship accompany you in your last moments on earth as His Holy Name brings you safely to that abode of Eternal Joy.

For Jesus has overcome and conquered death for humankind by His Resurrection. He has purchased this same overcoming gift for us with His Blood! Remember this, and believe it! For those who give themselves completely to Jesus Christ, there is no death! For the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ is nothing less than our Eternal Home. And this Home, begun in this life, continues forever in the Beatific Life of Heaven. Death is just the vehicle bringing us to the fullness of joy in the experience of that Home. So rejoice in the repetition of the Name of the One Who purchased such a gift for us!

And until that time, whenever you are threatened by whatever life brings, just move forward with Sitting Bull and look fear square in the eye, and remembering how your good friend Jesus Christ gave His Life for you, offer Him your life in return by saying, " Lord, I can't speak for anyone else, but as for me: 'IT'S A GOOD DAY TO DIE!'

End

Pius X proclaimed that the offering of our death to God is a highly meritorious act:

"Lord, my God, whatever be the kind of death which it pleases Thee to reserve for me, I from this moment on receive that death with all my heart and with all my soul. I accept that death from Thy hands, with all its anguish, pains, and sorrows."(Pope Pius X)

Like St Paul, Christians can joyfully look forward to death in order to be with Jesus. Death holds no fear for such believing souls, because, truth to tell, there really is no death! The center of our life in this world, as well as the life to come, lies in our spirit. In a very real sense, eternal life begins when we are given life in the body, in this world, because the spirit can never die. The spirit receives life from God and gives life to the body. At what we call “death,” there is only “a change” from our life on earth, wherein the spirit, freed from the limitations of the body, goes to the fullness of life in God. This is the life for which it was created, and we therefore call it “going home.” Later, it will be joined by a spiritualized, resurrected body which will share in the glory of eternal life. So death, “Where is thy sting?”

“What is this thing called death? In short, death is the cessation of life as we know it on earth. It is the separation of the body from the soul-the life principle in all living things. Because the human soul is rational, that is, because it has the ability to reason, to think, to know, to choose, and to love, the soul continues to exist beyond death. Why? Because these faculties or powers of the soul do not depend upon a bodily organ for their function. The body and its sensory powers present the material that the soul ponders and embraces, but the rational activity itself is purely spiritual. When this separation of body and soul occurs, death occurs. The body decays and is reduced to the elements from whence it came.

"The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that death is the ultimate consequence of sin and "'the last enemy' of man left to be conquered" (CCC, #1008). But the Church also teaches that death has been "transformed by Christ," who by his obedience "...has transformed the curse of death into a blessing" (CCC, #1009). As experience teaches, for most of us, death is inevitable and when it comes it usually brings a flood of painful emotions along with psychological and spiritual distress. It is for this reason that so few like to talk about it, and when it comes we want to "get over it" as quickly as possible. But our Catholic faith teaches us that ultimately death should not be feared, rather, it should be welcomed and embraced. This can only be done if we are convinced of its significance-hence the need to preach and teach about it!”

“These thoughts may not make us happy, at least not in the everyday use of that term. But if you really take time to think about them and meditate on them, you may find that they have the power to lead you to joy. A fruitful and faith-filled meditation on death can teach you how to live a more complete and fulfilling life. Not only that, it can also help remove the understandable fear of death that so many have. Listen to how the Church prays at the funeral of a Christian. Meditating on the death of Jesus, the Church sings: "In him, who rose from the dead, our hope of resurrection has dawned. The sadness of death gives way to the bright promise of immortality. Lord for your faithful people life is changed, not ended. When the body of our earthly dwelling lies in death we gain an everlasting dwelling place in heaven..."(National Black Catholic Congress: “Spirituality”)

St John of the Cross:

"The death of persons conformed to the will of God is very gentle and very sweet, sweeter and more gentle than was their whole spiritual life on earth. For they die with the most sublime impulses and delightful encounters of love, resembling the swan whose song is much sweeter at the moment of death. Accordingly, David affirmed that the death of the saints is precious in the sight of the Lord [Ps. 116:15]. The soul's riches gather together here, and its rivers of love move on to enter the sea, for these rivers, because they are blocked, become so vast that they themselves resemble seas. The just one's first treasures, and last, are heaped together as company for the departure and going off to the kingdom, while praises are heard from the ends of the earth, which, as Isaiah says, are the glory of the just one [Is. 24:16]. (St John of the Cross, stanza l:30, Living Flame of Love)