What if Time Wasn't the Enemy?

Lyla June Johnston

 

Lyla June Johnston is a young woman with a clear voice and message.  She is “an Indigenous environmental scientist, doctoral student, educator, community organizer and musician of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages from Taos, NM.: (https://www.lylajune.com/)

I recently read some of her writing in a repost on another website.  Her ideas intrigued me.  She writes:

"My people pay attention to the movement of the stars, the sun, the moon and the shadows to be in relationship with time. Time is not seen as dead, but as alive. One phase of night, for example, is known as Chahaałheeł (pronounced cha-haath-hyeth). But this time is not just a thing, it is a being. She is a woman. She is an elderly woman.

We know the night to be a time that heals a person. We notice that as we sleep, we awaken feeling better if we were sick the day before. We notice that the night cradles us and takes care of us like a grandmother. For this reason, many of our ceremonies occur all night, to be in relationship with the healing power of Chahaałheeł.

,,, It begs the question, what does it feel like to live in a society where time and space are not just relative, but they ARE relatives, beloved family members who care for us as their children?

...What does this feel like compared to a society where time and space are enemies or lifeless objects to be overcome? In a society where the night-time is a grandmother that loves you, you must go to sleep feeling very held. The cyclic phases of time aren't just alive... They actually like us. What more still...they love us, they have a conscious affinity for us.

In other words, a person of that kind of society will feel more beloved in general and less afraid. Even if the belief that certain times of day are benevolent beings was silly and untrue, the net effect on the society would be less fear and less anxiety. Doctors of late are finding important causal connections between stress, anxiety and adverse health effects. I have heard many Elders from cultures around the world say that fear is the root of imbalance and illness in a human society. It is our task to feel at home in creation, not afraid of creation, for our fears are what create space for imbalance to usurp this world. It is our task to trust in creation, not to fear creation, for our fears tend to create themselves within an otherwise wonderful world.”

After reading Johnston's words I found myself trying to image what she suggested.  What does it feel like to think of time and space are our loving relatives instead of the enemy?  What does it feel like to be surrounded by loving relatives?  It is how I feel when I am in the woods.  And indeed, this is what she had to say about that:  

"Many people wonder why you feel so good after taking a walk in the woods. We would say it is because you are surrounded by a family that is pure who loves you. We are surrounded in those times by Innumerable spirits who take the time to care for, heal and love us."

I will leave the last word to Lyla June Johnston so you can hear her voice and I invite you to ponder these questions for yourself.  What if we are surrounded by loving relatives who care, heal and love us?