NPR 07-14:A Sacred Connection to the Sun我相信太阳的力量

Connecting to nature helps us see the sacredness of life, Native American poet Joy Harjo says.

From NPR News, this is weekend edition, I am Robert Smith.

I believe in mystery.
I believe in family.
I believe in being who I am.
I believe in the power of failure.
And I believe normal life is extraordinary.

This I Believe. For our series This I Believe, we hear today from poet Joy Harjo . Harjo now divides her time between Hawaii and New Mexico. But she is a native of Tulsa, Oklahoma and a member of the Muskogee Creek¹ Nation. Here is our series curator, independent producer Jay Allison.

In her ego² poem, Joy Harjo writes: To pray, you open your whole self to sky, to earth, to sun, to moon. And it is in the heavens that Joy Harjo finds the belief that guides her life. Here she is with her essay, for This I Believe.

I believe in the sun, in the tangle³ of human failures of greed, fear and forgetfulness. The sun gives me clarity. When explorers first encountered my people, they called us heathens, sun worshipers. They didn’t understand that the sun is a relative and illuminates⁴ our path on this earth. Many of us continue ceremonies that ensure a connection with the sun. After dancing all night in a circle, we realize that we are part of a larger sense of stars and planets dancing with us overhead. When the sun rises at the apex⁵ of the ceremony, we are renewed. There is no mistaking this connection, though Wal-Mart might be just down the road. Humans are vulnerable, and rely on the kindnesses of the earth and the sun. We exist together in a sacred field of meaning. A few weeks ago, I visited some friends at a pueblo⁶ for a feast day celebration. The runners were up at dawn, and completed the ceremonial race that ensures the sun will continue to return. It is a humble⁷ and necessary act of respect. And because the celebration continues, the sun, the earth and these humans are still together in a harmonious⁸ relationship.

Our earth is shifting. We can all see it. I hear from my Inuit and Yupik relatives up north that everything has changed. It’s so hot. There is not enough winter;animals are confused; ice is melting. The quantum physicists⁹ have it right, they are beginning to think like Indians. Everything is connected dynamically at an intimate level. When you remember this, then the current wobble of the earth makes sense. How much more oil can be drained without replacement¹⁰, without reciprocity?

One day, recently, I walked out of a hotel room just off Time Square at dawn to find the sun. It was the fourth morning since the birth of my fourth granddaughter. This was the morning I was to present her to the sun as a relative, as one of us. It was still dark, overcast¹¹ as I walked through Time Square. I stood beneath the 21st century totem pole of symbols of multinational¹² corporations, made of flash and neon. The sun rose up over the city, but I couldn’t see it amidst the rain. Though I was not at home, bundling up the baby to carry her outside, I carried this new born girl within the cradleboard of my heart. I held her up, and presented her to the sun so she would be recognized as a relative. So that she won’t forget this connection, this promise, so that we all remember the sacredness of life.

Joy Harjo, with her essay for This I Believe, all are invited to write for our series. You can find out all about it at NPR.org/thisIbelieve or call toll-free 888-577-9977. For This I Believe, I'm Jay Allison.

Next week on NPR.org, a This I Believe essay from Jeffrey Hollender, CEO of the household products company 7th Generation on the belief he has tried to hold on to since his brother's suicide. This I Believe is independently produced by Jay Allison, Dan Gediman, John Gregory, Viki Merrick, and Emily Botein.

Support for This I Believe comes from Prudential Retirement¹³.

1 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

2 ego   

n.自我，自己，自尊

参考例句：

• He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。
• She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。

3 tangle   

n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱

参考例句：

• I shouldn't tangle with Peter.He is bigger than me.我不应该与彼特吵架。他的块头比我大。
• If I were you, I wouldn't tangle with them.我要是你，我就不跟他们争吵。

4 illuminates   

v.使明亮( illuminate的第三人称单数 )；照亮；装饰；说明

参考例句：

• The light shines on from over there and illuminates the stage. 灯光从那边照进来，照亮了舞台。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sun illuminates the sky. 太阳照亮了天空。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 apex   

n.顶点，最高点

参考例句：

• He reached the apex of power in the early 1930s.他在三十年代初达到了权力的顶峰。
• His election to the presidency was the apex of his career.当选总统是他一生事业的顶峰。

6 pueblo   

n.（美国西南部或墨西哥等）印第安人的村庄

参考例句：

• For over 2,000 years,Pueblo peoples occupied a vast region of the south-western United States.在长达2，000多年的时间里，印第安人统治着现在美国西南部的大片土地。
• The cross memorializes the Spanish victims of the 1680 revolt,when the region's Pueblo Indians rose up in violent protest against their mistreatment and burned the cit

7 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

8 harmonious   

adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的

参考例句：

• Their harmonious relationship resulted in part from their similar goals.他们关系融洽的部分原因是他们有着相似的目标。
• The room was painted in harmonious colors.房间油漆得色彩调和。

9 physicists   

物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说，这是受挫折的一年。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
• Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。

10 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

11 overcast   

adj.阴天的，阴暗的，愁闷的；v.遮盖，（使）变暗，包边缝；n.覆盖，阴天

参考例句：

• The overcast and rainy weather found out his arthritis.阴雨天使他的关节炎发作了。
• The sky is overcast with dark clouds.乌云满天。

12 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

13 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。