The Servant of God Nicholas Black Elk

The Servant of God Nicholas Black Elk (1 December 1863 - 19 August 1950)
“Behold, a sacred voice is calling you; all over the sky a sacred voice is calling.”
Nicholas Black Elk
“A very great vision is needed, and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky. “
Crazy Horse
“The voice of God, that has been my wish, that has been my desire.”
from the one woman play, “Julian” by Fr J Janda
Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces, but the Lord was not in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave...”
1 Kings 19: 11-13
“God has prepared for you a birth so tremendous all language faints before its splendor. Trust those who know this because they have lived it, and forgive them their stammerings. Their mouths are burnt away by the blazing coal Truth has placed on their lips.”
Hadewijch of Antwerp
from “Love is Everything: A Year With Hadewijch of Antwerp” by Andrew Harvey
“I spoke and wrote these things not by the invention of my heart or that of any other person, but as by the secret mysteries of God; I heard and received them in the heavenly places. And again I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, ‘Cry out therefore, and write thus !”
St Hildegard of Bingen at age 42
Three years ago I heard that Nicholas Black Elk was being considered for canonization, and so he received the title “Servant of God.” I was so excited that I painted this image for my fortieth anniversary of Ordination to the priesthood.
At the age of 22 I made a life changing retreat at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and my director, Fr John Staudenmaier, SJ, introduced me to a book of his visions, “Black Elk Speaks.” When I had a heart collapse 27 April 2012, I was in an induced coma for 2 weeks. After that I had to go to rehab until I was strong enough to go home and await open heart surgery on 6 June. During the 5 days of rehab, every night I’d listen on audible to “Black Elk Speaks.” His words were so soothing and healing for me. I cannot recommend this book enough; it is pure visionary poetry.
I had spent some time in Taos, at the Taos Pueblo and made some friends there. They told me that they weave or combine their Indian ways, with their Catholicism. From my study of Black Elk, this is what he did. Reminiscent of St Edith Stein, combining her Judaism, Feminism, Philosophy and Theology; never renouncing any part of her. It was her vocation to find a way of putting all this together. Black Elk was 67 years old when he agreed to tell the story of his visions to John Neihardt. Hildegard was 42 and getting sickness after sickness until she agreed to share her visions.
So many men and women writers have spoken of their fears about revealing themselves or any experience of God. This always reminds me of a scene in the film, “Yentl” where Yentl as a young woman is not allowed to study Torah. She coaxes her Rabbi father into teaching her. And he tells her to drape and close all the windows, and she says something like, “Papa, why ? God doesn’t care.” And he says “It’s not God I’m afraid of, it’s the neighbors.”
When I taught high school art and theology at Regis High in Denver, I’d ask the kids where they’d experienced God. And they would come out with the most amazing stories, usually in the vast Colorado nature. Later, when I was a chaplain in Manhattan in the AIDS Hospice, I read a book called “The Radiant Child.” In it the author interviewed people who had had experiences of God only to be told by a teacher, parent, or another significant adult, that it wasn’t real. This shut them down, sometimes for years.
This follows exactly the stories of the great visionary saints, Juan Diego, Bernadette, Margaret Mary, Faustina, and a very long list of people who have to rely on tremendous inner courage to speak. We all know the power of words to encourage, create, or destroy.
Yet we desperately need these accounts of touching into God to heal our planet, Mother Earth, (as St Francis called her) as well as her inhabitants ... us. Because the Romance languages have gender, Francis could say brother sun, sister water, etc. Old English had gender too which was dropped for some reason, by the time Julian of Norwich wrote in Middle English. I’ve often wondered if that’s why we can abuse nature because, the earth and animals are “its?”
Just one contemplative example for me. I have this paperback book by Adrienne von Speyr called “The Boundless God.” Adrienne was fond of calling God the “Ever-More.” On the cover is a beautiful photograph of the ocean or sea, and light is pouring down on her. It’s so powerful for me, I took it to FedEx and had it enlarged to 11” x 17” just to gaze into. I can’t get past chapter one yet because the cover says so much.
Here I’ll end with our Holy Father Pope Francis:
“...help us to show creative solidarity in addressing the consequences of this global pandemic. Make us courageous to embrace the changes that are needed in search of the common good. Now more than ever may we feel that we are all interconnected and interdependent. Enable us to listen and respond to the cry of the poor. May the present sufferings be the birth pangs of a more fraternal and sustainable world. Under the loving gaze of Mary Help of Christians. We make this prayer through Christ Our Lord.
Amen”
Pope Francis from his encyclical inspired by St Francis, “Laudato Si’ “
Fr William Hart McNichols 🌱 💮 🌱 August 2022