Orthodox Church, Theophany, Blessing of Water (photo from here)
kaleeg.com
The gathering at Standing Rock, North Dakota, is historic in nature.
Hundreds of Indigenous Nations from across North America and the world
have assembled with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe to block the Dakota
Access Pipeline from being built through their ancestral land and under
the Missouri River at Lake Oahe, half a mile upstream of the tribal land
boundary.
The pipeline’s original route was near the state’s capitol of
Bismarck, but concerns by the US Army Corps of Engineers that a leak
would contaminate their drinking water, and an admission by the pipeline
contractor, Energy Transfer Partners, that a leak was possible, and
that there is no technology which exists to mitigate and properly clean
up that leak (nor any oil spill in an aquatic environment), resulted in
the pipeline being rerouted to its current and disputed location, which
threatens the water source on which the Standing Rock Sioux tribe
depends.
While the new route was approved by the US Army Corps of Engineers,
the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which would not only be affected by an
oil leak but would also lose sacred sites and burial grounds that lie on
the new pipeline route on unceded tribal territory, was not adequately
consulted. The tribe had submitted evidence of sites of interest and had
asked for an injunction on construction under US federal law, which
acknowledges that tribes may have been separated from sacred sites
during their relocation to reservations during colonization and requires
that they be accommodated if there are concerns over desecration. A
coalition of 1,200 archeologists had also signed a letter submitted to
the White House, warning that the pipeline’s new route would desecrate
these ancient burial grounds. However, the legal request and submission
were ignored and the pipeline company bulldozed through the area the
next day without waiting for the sites to be investigated. Dismayed
tribal members that attempted to halt construction through actions such
as chaining themselves to equipment and placing their bodies in the way
were met with pipeline security guards with dogs, and some were bitten.
As the situation escalated, US President Barack Obama signed an order
ordering that no construction take place within 20 miles either side of
Lake Oahe until the Standing Rock Sioux tribe had been meaningfully
consulted. However, construction has continued and is nearing the river.
The crisis has led to an extraordinary gathering of US tribes joined
by Indigenous and non-Indigenous activists from as far away as Hawaii
and Ecuador practicing non-violent direct action based on Indigenous
principles. This unprecedented group has initiated a remarkable,
ongoing, prayer-based response to the construction of the pipeline and
the desecration of historic tribal burial lands. In fact, this
passionate yet peaceful attempt to prevent the pipeline from endangering
the water supply has a much greater message than just non-violent
resistance to the threat to tribal water and pain over the loss of
sacred sites. A pipeline rupture or leak at this location would
contaminate vast stretches of the Missouri River, affecting over 17
million people downstream.
In response, Orthodox Christians like me would to like express
solidarity with the Indigenous peoples, and specifically with these four
foundational principals of their response.
Water is Life
The Orthodox Christian Church upholds everywhere and in everything
the sacramental role of water. Water, we proclaim, is the source of
life, the very stuff from which God formed the earth and its
inhabitants. Our Scriptures, our baptismal rites, our festal rituals are
replete with both the use of water and reference to its significance.
In the Genesis story, God brings forth creation from water. There are
four rivers which flow out into the world from Eden. The world is
consumed and renewed by water in the Noah narrative. The infant Moses is
saved by water, and leads the people of Israel through the waters of
the sea, and in the desert strikes a rock to reveal the life-giving
water. Over and again, water is everywhere in our holy Scriptures. For
instance:
Let the thirsty wilderness be glad, let
the desert rejoice, let it blossom as a rose, let it blossom abundantly,
let everything rejoice . . . (Is 35.1–10).
Go to that water, O you who thirst, and
as many as have no money, let them eat and drink without price, both
wine and fat . . . (Is 55.1–13).
With joy draw the water out of the wells
of salvation. And in that day shall you say: Confess ye unto the Lord
and call upon his Name; declare his glorious deeds . . . his Name is
exalted . . . Hymn the Name of the Lord . . . Rejoice and exult . . .
(Is 12.3.6).
Indeed, the final, triumphant verses of the Book of Revelation invite
us to partake of the victory and presence of Christ in the drinking of
water:
The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And
let him who hears say, “Come.” And let him who is thirsty come, let him
who desires take the water of life without price. Rev 22:17
Had we a throat of bronze and a thousand tongues, we could not recite
so many verses from our Scriptures, proclamations of our saints, or
rites in our Church which pertain to water and it’s sanctity.
In the feast of Theophany, for instance, water stands for the
beautiful world of God’s original creation and ultimate glorification by
Christ in the Kingdom of God. We thus proclaim in our hymns:
The voice of the Lord cries over the
waters, saying: Come all ye, receive the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of
understanding, the Spirit of the fear of God, even Christ who is made
manifest.
Today the nature of water is sanctified.
Jordan is divided in two, and turns back the stream of its waters,
beholding the Master being baptized.
As a man Thou didst come to that river, O
Christ our King, and dost hasten O Good One, to receive the baptism of a
servant at the hands of the Forerunner [John], because of our sins, O
Lover of Man (Hymns of the Great Blessing of Waters).
Water is indeed life, and the Orthodox Church affirms this in its
very own sacramental, Apostolic, Christo-centric bones. Orthodox
Christians like me affirm what is being proclaimed by the assembled
nations at Standing Rock that #WaterIsLife.
Protectors not Protestors
The predominant mindset of our day engages the world in protest. It
is reflected in every sphere of public and private engagement. A protest
is an action taken in opposition and as such can be violent. The
Indigenous activists at Standing Rock have eschewed what they believe is
a western, colonial mindset for an entirely different approach, one of
protection, not protestation. The Orthodox Church affirms this approach
as one which is inherently non-violent in nature and which embodies our
relationship to the Mother of God. She is the protector of our people,
the Mother of peace, and it is her veil of protection which has
sheltered (and like the Earth, nourished) us through the centuries.
Indeed, we call upon the Mother of God now to cast her veil of
protection over the water protectors of Standing Rock.
Protection is an action taken in love; it is a response to violence
on behalf of the powerless. The water which is life has no recourse in
our society. The earth and its ecosystems have no voice which can be
heard by our nations. As such, they need protection and preservation,
not protest and violence. What sustains us must be sustained, and it is
our holy duty before God to become a voice to the voiceless, a mother to
the mother, and indeed, a mother like the Mother of God herself. We
believe that we must bear this Earth, the way we seek to bear Christ.
Therefore, Orthodox Christians like me affirm and support the sprit of
the assembled nations at Standing Rock as #ProtectorsNotProtestors.
Blessing of water in Africa (from here)
Demonstration of Prayer
The Indigenous peoples at Standing Rock have rooted their protection
in prayer. They believe that prayer is the most powerful action they can
take in the face of absolute power. They believe that the corporations,
banks, political systems, and the military are no match for the power
of prayer. They believe that prayer is the voice of love. Indeed, these
assembled peoples, from all over North America, have already healed
ancient disputes among themselves through prayer. They are praying for
the land, each other, the police, the military and the whole world. They
are calling out to the police in love, telling them that they are
praying for them, that they love them, and that they are concerned for
their families as much as their own. They have no weapons, save their
prayers.
The Orthodox Church is an assembly of prayer. We believe prayer is
the very work of the people. Like the assembled nations, we do not take
up arms as a Church; we take up prayer. We have been taught thus by our
Lord, by His apostles, and by His saints, the fathers and mothers of our
Church. Orthodox Christians like me affirm and support the Indigenous
nations in their #DemonstrationOfPrayer.
A Catholic Appeal
The Water Protectors at Standing Rock have expressed their concern
for the whole world. They believe that they are protecting the water,
the land, and the air not just for themselves, but for the farmers,
families, and municipalities down river of the pipeline they are trying
to stop being built. They also believe that they are protecting the
creation for the whole world, and that, as a people of the land, it is
their time in history to do so. They have witnessed and been victim to
the devastating result of a world which has disregarded and desecrated
the creation in the pursuit of profit and power, and they believe they
must act now for everyone everywhere. This is one of the reasons why so
many nations have gathered, as they see this action as their destiny.
The Orthodox Church prays for the well-being of the whole world in
every service. We believe the teaching and saving act of God through His
Christ is universal in reach. Indeed, our own Scriptures proclaim, “For
God so loved the world [Gr. Cosmos] that He sent His Only-begotten
Son.” Our God is not an exclusive one. He causes the rain to fall on the
wicked as well as the innocent. Our God’s love is passionate, present,
embodied, and engaged in every part of the universe. His love is the
source of Creation. Therefore, Orthodox Christians like me affirm and
support the Indigenous assembly at Standing Rock in their efforts to
protect the land and water, and especially their stated belief that
these efforts have a #CatholicAppeal.
Finally, the Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew, has said in
numerous places for many years and quoting many of our saints, that the
Orthodox Church affirms and supports every effort to protect our earth,
water, and air, so long as it is undertaken with prayer and in love. We
proclaim the sanctity of creation, and we understand that we are not
separate from the earth which provides our food and the lakes and rivers
which supply our water. Thus, Orthodox Christians like me ask that
every government, at every level, now undertake affirmative action to
protect these resources, not just so we can continue to eat and drink
and breathe, but also for the glory of God Who created this world, Whose
Son became incarnate within it, and Who elevated creation to the throne
through the Resurrection and Ascension of His Christ.
Our hope is that this is a stepping stone beyond just one moment of
protection for Standing Rock to a deeper need to pray and repent and to
act for our right relationship with the Earth. Our hope is that our
parishes and our Liturgical lives may deepen our bonds to creation so
that our spiritual lives can unfold in the way God created them to
exist. In many ways this is a calling out for our own healing. We live
in a world filled with anxiety. May we be guided back to pray for and be
near the Earth where we can find peace and the responses of the
invisible presence of God.
In as much as the assembly of Indigenous Nations in Standing Rock,
North Dakota, in union with those that have gathered to support them,
are calling for the protection of our valuable and God-bearing water and
earth, and in as much as they do so as Protectors in prayer for the
whole world, Orthodox Christians like me will stand in solidarity with
their efforts and lend our prayers to their own.
Dad
of three kids, author (An Altar in the Wilderness), priest in awesome
church, Principal of Bright Wing Books, designer, author, speaker,
podcaster (getting back to it after a long hiatus), backpacker,
ecologist.
Please, see also:
A Letter from an Orthodox Christian to our Native Americans Brothers
A Native American chief’s ‘secret path’ to Orthodoxy
Sites:
Outreach Alaska
Με τις ευχές και τις ευλογίες του Μακαριωτάτου Πάπα και Πατριάρχου της
Μεγάλης Πόλεως Αλεξάνδρειας και πάσης Αφρικής κ.κ. Θεοδώρου καθώς και
του επιχωρίου Μητροπολίτου Μαδαγασκάρης κ. Ιγνατίου, σας προσκαλούμε στην
εκδήλωση που θα πραγματοποιηθεί από το Ορθόδοξο Ιεραποστολικό Σωματείο
"ΠΑΝΑΓΙΑ ΚΟΣΜΟΣΩΤΕΙΡΑ", με σκοπό την προβολή του επιτελεσθέντος και
επιτελουμένου έργου στην Ιεραποστολική Μητρόπολη Μαδαγασκάρης. 
Chief Seattle’s response to President Franklin Pierce in 1854, that he
could not sell his people’s land because it does not belong to them but
rather the people belong to it, has become a memorable piece of American
history. In exactly the same time period, a Greek saint went from
village to village saying exactly the same things to my people, the
Greeks, who had just acquired their “own” state, but were being ruled by
the powerful countries of Western Europe, who had dazzled them with
their wealth and culture. This saint was called Christoforos Papoulakos
(which means “dear old man”). The people in power captured him and he
died in prison, but his words influenced our future. 
