Prayer for the Gulf - 2

The second canvas in my Prayer for the Gulf is a triggerfish, painted over an excerpt from the prayer sent out by Lakota elder Arvol Looking Horse:

We ask for prayers that the oil spill, this bleeding, will stop. That the winds stay calm to assist in the work. Pray for the people to be guided in repairing this mistake & that we may also seek to live in harmony as we make the choice to change the destructive path we are on. As we pray, we will fully understand that we are all connected & that what we create can have lasting effects on all life.

Prayer for the Gulf

When Lakota Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 19th generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, sent out his call for prayer for the wound in the Gulf of Mexico, I entered silence to find what to do.

What I found was a 5-canvas painting prayer. Each 12 x 12" canvas will have a prayer written across its surface. Over this background texture I'll paint representative Gulf animals, transparent but clear: pompano, green turtle, pelican, blue crab, & triggerfish.

This first one is the pompano. Its prayer is my thought while sketching:

How much of our way of life has to go? Will I be able to paint? Will I need to go to some northern island & hunt & fish & gather? How do so many humans agree to live in harmony & respect--gentle to the fiber of kinship--newly beloved of countless beings we no longer terrorize. What do we need stripped down to love & how much can we take with us? May every heart open to this question & accept the diminishing answer with grace & joy.