by Graeme Cann
“Now I must speak to you of things that as a tiger I cannot possibly know. As I and my predecessors have often done down through the ages, I must once again simply be the mouthpiece through which the Great Creator speaks to you. But first you must rest and I must attend to feeding my cubs and protecting them from the dangers of the forest. You may sleep safely because I will also watch over you.”
When the tigress had left the clearing, Mishka rose and walked slowly to the little stream. She smiled, despite the deep sadness she felt, as her eyes alighted on a little brown squirrel who had been bouncing from one branch to another when it had spotted her, and had stopped suddenly and was now sitting with its head to one side watching her intently.
“Well, little squirrel,” she whispered, “what do you see? Do you see a forty-five-year-old lady whose heart is breaking because of what her people are doing to each other? Can you feel the pain that I feel? Do you love me or even feel sorry for me? No, of course not! You see a stranger, a trespasser who may or may not represent danger to you. Instinct will inform you of how to respond to my appearing in your world. You will not debate the moral issue of welcoming strangers or the political questions of what now will be my place in your world. Your experience of survival in the forest has taught you that you probably cannot frighten me away, so if my presence threatens you, your best option will be to flee to a higher place further up your tree.” She laughed out loud as right on cue the little squirrel did exactly that.
When Mishka awoke from her early afternoon slumber, the shadows were already falling on the clearing as the sun sank lower in the west. She had no sooner opened her eyes than she had become aware of the presence of the tigress and she wondered how long she had been there. Her sleep had been peaceful enough but now, as she recalled the questions that she had asked, her body tensed a little in anticipation of what she was about to hear. The words in her mind were as usual strong and gentle, and the eyes of the tigress were warm and embracing.
“I said that I would speak to you now of things that I could not know as a tiger. You have asked me how might it be possible for humankind to once again live without fear, when only the few continued to believe in what makes it possible to be unafraid and the many no longer believe in anything or anyone greater than themselves. This is what the Great Creator says in reply.
“‘Mishka, Mother-Father of Loloma, you and those who have gone before you have been chosen as leaders because you believed in my existence, honoured the Covenant, and lived toward others in love and respect without fear.
“‘The outcome of such leadership until the death of Marita was that the people of Sampa lived in harmony with each other and with the animals of the rainforest. Even when danger presented itself, the leaders of Sampa did not resort to anger or violence but instead they found much more effective ways of dealing with the threats and dangers. For this reason for many centuries, multiple generations of Sampians lived in a community where love, honour, and respect reigned supreme.
“Over the course of time, belief in a Great Creator and in the Covenant was challenged. At first this seemed to pose no danger to Sampa because the new voices were few and those who were faithful to Sampa’s beliefs and values were many. However, Rubin succeeded in leading a revolution which he believed would take Sampa into a new time of enlightenment.
“This history-changing period began with the murder of Marita and the establishing of an army. Soon we saw the increasing breakdown of the family, the liberalisation of marriage to include polygamy, the end of communal farming and resource sharing, and the introduction of dictatorial leadership. In turn this led to power being given to the chosen few, and the establishment of the rich class and the worker class.
“Then we saw violence in the streets and violence in the home. Sampians no longer embraced the equality of men and women as a key platform on which the society was built, and women were devalued and disenfranchised. In brief, all this meant that Sampians were no longer connected by common beliefs and values which shaped their attitudes and their behaviours, but now they were driven by the need to survive, in a community and a world full of threat and danger.
“In such an environment people become wounded by the experiences of betrayal, abuse, withdrawn or redirected affection, poverty, discrimination, manipulation, disempowerment, and ultimately violence and cruelty. People who have been wounded and who have found no healing or release will always take that wounding with them into every new relationship.
“When Alofa led the remnant from Sampa to Loloma, there was no doubt that they were seeking a better world. They believed that together they would rediscover what made Sampa a safe place in which to live. But they not only brought their families, their animals and their belongings, their skills and their hope, but they also brought their fear.
“Your question, Mishka, is whether it is possible for a people so wounded to be completely healed. The answer is yes. I will meet with you here tomorrow and I will teach you how to heal a community. But the daylight has almost gone and you must return to the village.”
CHAPTER TEN
THE HEALING BEGINS
“Inner peace can only be reached when we practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past, and is therefore the means for correcting our misperceptions.”
Gerald G. Jampolsky, Love is Letting Go
“When people speak of great men, they think of men like Napoleon, men of violence. Rarely do they think of peaceful men. But contrast the reception they will receive when they return home from their battles. Napoleon will arrive in pomp and power, a man who has achieved the very summit of human ambition. And yet his dreams will be haunted by the oppressions of war. William Wilberforce, however, will return to his family and lay his head on his pillow and remember: the slave trade is no more.”
Charles Fox
What transpired for Mishka the following day in the forest will always remain a mystery. However, she almost immediately began to put a Community Healing strategy in place, beginning with a meeting of all the elders and their spouses. This meeting took the form of a dinner, and when the beautiful meal had been consumed, Mishka spoke. As she rose from her chair, it was obvious to everyone present that she had been rejuvenated and energised by the happenings of the past few weeks.
“Brothers and Sisters,” she said, “before the fire and the deaths of three of our community members, I had come to believe that there would be no return to the type of community living that we sometimes described as the ‘Sampian Way.’ I began to believe that it was the impossible dream and that whatever the conditions were hundreds of years ago that made such community possible, those conditions no longer existed in our modern world. I had convinced myself that the innocent naivety of our ancestors had given way to a new enlightenment and a new sophistication, and that we should think of Rubin and Kaluba as heroic reformers who courageously led us out of the dark ages into a new era, rather than as political rebels and heartless dictators. However, when violence in the form of arson and murder forced itself upon us, I realised that a reformation that does not further our capacity to love and forgive each other and to live at peace with our friends and our enemies is no reformation at all. When as a community we make decisions that rob the more vulnerable amongst us of their dignity and their safety; when we no longer welcome the stranger in their time of need; when we devalue women and children; and when we accept the existence of abuse and violence among us, without resisting or questioning it, we are not a more sophisticated society but a morally corrupt one.
“In my growing despair, I cried out to the Great Creator for help, and the Great One of the Forest came to me. Over the two days that she spoke with me, the despair lifted as she affirmed that wounded individuals can be restored, and our morally sick community can be healed. Empowered by her words and enlivened by the new hope she has instilled in me, I come today to invite you, the Elders Council, and the people who love you the most and know you best, to join me in healing our community.”
As Mishka paused, each person in the room instinctively knew that what they were being called to do was significantly more history-changing and history-making than their previous war against domestic violence; they knew that every aspect of their lives was about to be challenged and that whoever led such a revolution would need to lead by example. As they looked at Mishka, they knew that she was the one person in the room whose integrity was beyond question, and they were glad to be in the presence of such a humble but determined woman.
“We will embark together on a multifaceted strategy, which we will talk about at another time, but the foundation stone on which it stands is a united council who are prepared to commit themselves to lead the community by our own personal example. To this end, inspired by the Great Tigress through whom the Great Creator spoke to me, I have written a pledge which I know that those who affirm it will only be able to keep with the help of the Great Creator. I am asking you to take it home, reflect on it, and hopefully sign it. If you cannot commit to it, I am asking you to come and talk it over with me.” The meeting closed, and with the pledge in their hands they returned to their homes.
This is the pledge that Mishka had written:
As a leader of the Loloma community, and in the tradition of Abele and all the Mother-Fathers who succeeded him, and all the Elders who served with them, I confess that I am a believer in the Great Creator and a keeper of the Covenant made between Abele and the Great One of the Forest. I believe that humankind was, according to the Covenant, appointed to be the custodians of the Valley Sampa, and now Loloma, and that the Great Tiger is the custodian of the forest. I believe that the reason why Sampians lived without fear was that both man and tiger lived by the Covenant, which required that all men and women embrace the core values of honour and respect.
As a believer in the Great Creator and as a keeper of the Covenant, I do not practice, approve of, or encourage any type of abuse, violence or discrimination, within my home or within our community, or any hostility or inhospitality toward those who live outside of our village. I also believe that personal happiness and communal peace are not conditions to be sought after, but are indeed the consequences of choosing to believe in one who is greater than myself.
I commit myself as an Elder to lead my community by demonstrating love, forgiveness, and acceptance in both my family and in the wider community. I understand that the bedrock of every community is the character of its leaders, and for this reason I will seek to live and work in unity and respectful relationship with my Mother-Father, and fellow leaders, in pursuing the healing and the ongoing health of the whole community.
Whilst most of the Elders committed themselves to the statement that Mishka had written with great enthusiasm and without the need for further clarification, there were some who over the next few weeks sought an appointment with her for further discussion. One of these was Savannah, the woman who had already shared her story of abuse with the Elders Council. She came to Mishka with the confidence that she would be heard and understood, but also with the apprehension of one who was about to explore a dark and painful area of her life.
“I am a believer in the Great Creator,” she said softly, “but there is no love or trust in my heart. As a child I was sexually abused by my father many, many times, and each time I cried out to the Creator for help but no help came. I grew up with a great sense of shame not only because of what my father did to me, but because the fact that the Creator did not help me confirmed that I was not worthy of love and respect either from my father or the Creator. I decided that the Creator must have been a man, and that he took some sadistic pleasure in my pain and humiliation.
“When I was sixteen I married and as I have already shared with you, the whole of my life with my husband was like a rerun of my childhood. When my husband died I was so glad, but I could not tell anyone of my joy for fear that I would be accused of contributing to his death. I felt that the Great Creator had abandoned me, but at last some dark power had stepped in to deliver me from my suffering. Now, Mother, I am afraid again. It is like if I confess my allegiance to the Creator, all my suffering will return.”
The two women sat in silence for a very long time, and then Mishka rose from her chair, smiled the warmest of smiles, and asked, “Will you walk with me?”
They walked with each other through the valley toward the river. Together they appreciated the warm noontime sun, the bright yellow of the canola flower, and the cheery activity of the workers in the field. On reaching the river, they sat by its edge and watched as a beautiful little blue kingfisher darted furtively around.
“One of the greatest women of all time was Misha, the wife of Alofa, who led us out of Sampa and brought us here to Loloma. When I was still very young, Misha, by then an elderly widow, became my mentor. Like you she had been molested and raped by her father as a teenager. And like you she was bitter and angry against the Creator. She was so wounded that even though she loved Alofa very much, she refused to marry him.
“One day as she sat by the river that flowed along the border of Sampa, Alofa’s mother talked to her of the river’s role of promoting and preserving life. She told her that the river which had flowed through the valley since the beginning of time did not make people good or bad. Its role was to nurture the valley so that the pastures and the trees and the crops would flourish.
“She told Misha that the river was like the Great Creator, who chooses to give and preserve life, knowing that there will always be people who will do the same. Just as the constant flow of the river overcomes the devastating power of a drought, so the constant love of the Great Creator overcomes the power of evil. Just as the river can transform a desert into a fertile plain, so the Great Creator transforms a desolate heart into a fountain of love. The Great Creator, she told Misha, is all-knowing, all-powerful, and always present.”
When Mishka rose to leave, Savannah remained. She knew that what the Mother-Father had shared with her was too important to treat lightly. She sensed that this was a precious moment, and she treasured the opportunity to stay in it for a while.
After a time she began to speak aloud. “If you have always been with me, and if you are all-knowing and all-powerful, why have I felt so alone, so powerless, and so unprotected?” She did not expect an answer. This was not the first time that she had demanded answers to these ever-present questions and always, as now, she was met with silence. She turned to leave the river, but what she saw galvanised her to the place where she stood. There, not fifty metres away, were two men and a young woman. As she watched, the two men began to attack the girl, punching her with their fists and brutally kicking her as she fell to the ground. As she watched, she realised that the girl was her and the two men were her father and her husband. At this moment, she felt an inner strength that she had never felt before. Instead of running away from this terrible vision, she calmly, firmly walked toward the scene. The men saw her approaching and suddenly recoiled in fear, falling to the ground and raising their hands in appeal as if they were pleading for mercy. Savannah stopped and as she watched, the beaten girl slowly began to rise. She seemed very injured and very, very small, but as she stood, unsteadily at first, she began to grow, and the wounds became even more visible. Her attackers cowered at the sight. She towered above these miserable, shrunken, powerless men, and as Savannah continued to watch, the men began to vaporise until in a few moments they had disappeared altogether.
The young woman turned toward her and smiled, and then very slowly walked toward the river. When she reached the water’s edge, she took off her clothes and began to bathe her body with the water of the river. As she did so, the open wounds and the angry red welts on her body disappeared, and she began to radiate the most blinding beauty that you could possibly imagine. A serenity that Savannah had never felt before seemed to envelope her whole being. Then suddenly the girl was gone, but the serenity remained. Savannah walked to the place where the girl had been and stripping off her own clothes she plunged into the river.
For the first time in her life, she did not feel dirty and disempowered. She had survived the worst her tormentors could do. She was stronger, braver, and more visible than they would ever be. She was filled with the most incredible peace and joy, and she stayed in the river until the sun had set.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE GREAT GATHERING
“Father, set us free from the obligation to suffer for our sins, as we set free from the obligation to suffer for their sins, those who have sinned against us.”
JESUS, MATTHEW 6:12
“We forgive another when we set them free from the obligation to suffer punishment by our hands.”
Ibid
With the Elders united in their renewed commitment to belief in the Great Creator and the Covenant, it was time for Mishka to gather the people together. It was the first occasion for many years when the whole of the Loloma population gathered to hear the Mother-Father speak. But there had been intense interest aroused by the war against violence, and men and women alike came to hear what she had to say.
Anticipating a large crowd, the place of gathering had been moved to an area that served as a natural amphitheatre. A platform had been erected on a small hill some two hundred metres from the rainforest boundary, facing in the direction of the village, and as the people gathered they sat on the sloping ground, giving them all a good view of the raised platform. A magnificent full moon in a totally cloudless sky lit up the whole area, and the fiery torches that the people carried added to the almost mystical glow that surrounded them.