Montana Psalm

Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord God who made heaven and earth!

He took the cool dirt in His hands

and smiling,

pressed it hard until it oozed between His fingers

silver and gold

thick and rich running like syrup

into the thirsty ground.

He laughed

and the water began to bubble

then gush until all that could be heard

was the sound of many waters.

He clapped His hands

together and then on His knees

faster and faster

the heartbeat heard across the plains.

With their eyes closed

the First Nations felt it.

They knew the buffalo was The Gift.

We give thanks to you, our God, for every good

and perfect gift is from you and though we have wasted it,

you are merciful. You are merciful to forgive

trappers, hunters, those who stripped the land,

and gouged out it's glory , you are merciful.

Forgive us, Lord, for our ancestors

who just did not know

what they were doing.

So He gave us the bitterroot flower

as a memorial for all the tears

sown in our land.

Tears from the railroad,

tears for the prisoners of war, tears

for the pioneer's widows and the howling

wind of the prairie.

Buffalo tears.

He looks at His right arm

and reaches out to give strength

to the land.

He hears the prayers

rising and rising

from a million fires.

Up comes the craggy peaks of the mountains

He is coming.

He straddles the pass and says;

"Be strong and of good courage!"

Look to the hills

from which comes your help!

Your help comes from the Lord

who made heaven and earth."

His eyes roam back and forth

from prairie to peaks

over laughing water and frozen smiles

and He sighs,

"It is good."

~Dawn