“When we want to talk to Him we burn tobacco, and it takes our prayers all the way up to the Sky World.” - Louis Farmer, Native Community.
Our herbs and our medicines are here for the purpose of serving. Offering tobacco as a gift to the Creator is a proper use of our medicine. In this way, we are able to communicate from the physical world to the spiritual world. Sometimes we have a hard time coming up with the right words when we pray, especially if we are really mixed up. The tobacco and the sage will take the intent to the spirit world. The meaning behind the words is more important than the words. The Creator always knows our intent. The tobacco helps us get to the Sky World.
As we realize our need to be forgiven, we tend to be more forgiving. Our behavior toward other people in our life is a mirror of our behavior toward ourselves. When we demand perfection of ourselves, we come to demand it from others around us, too. As we strive to repair and heal our lives in recovery, we may also expect others to work just as hard and to recover at the same pace as we do. And just as we are often unforgiving of our own mistakes, we may shut out friends and family members when they don’t meet our expectations. Working the steps helps us understand our own limitations and our humanity. We come to see our failures as human mistakes. We realize that we will never be perfect, that we will, at times, disappoint ourselves and others. We hope for forgiveness. As we learn to gently accept ourselves, we can start to view others with the same accepting and tolerant heart. These people, too, are only human, trying to do their best and sometimes falling short.
Just for today: I will treat others with the tolerance and forgiveness I seek for myself, and I will honor my connection to the spirit world by offering my prayers and intents through the sacred medicines.