Wupatki Pueblo

     The old adage “It takes a village” is actually a biblical truth.  God called people to live as one united community.  Followers of Jesus were instructed to encourage one another, give to a communal pot so all had what they needed.  Brothers and sisters were asked to give so other communities had basic needs met, where there was despair.  As Jim and I have traveled through the southwest we have learned quite a bit about the Native American ancestors who traveled as nomadic groups, then built great ceremonial houses and homes, one connected to another.  They dwelled in canyons, on mountains and on rock ledges in rock fortresses and in cliffs where they built connecting walls and communicated across canyons with other cliff dwellers, using fire.  On the stretches of desert and mesas there are remains of great fires that would have been seen for miles.  The people would have lit these from high points, maybe communicating movement, possibly events, or just saying we are here.

But encourage one another day after day as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. – Hebrews 3:13 NASB

Walnut Canyon cliff dwelling

Acoma, Sky City, New Mexico sits on top of a mesa

homes in the Sky City, still lived in by Acoma Pueblo people

a street on the mesa of Acoma Pueblo (Sky City)

outside Wukoki Pueblo

window in Wukoki Pueblo wall

     I tried to imagine people living on these cliffs and in these changing climates, raising children, crops and trading medicinal plants, food, vessels and treasures for their own specific needs.  This would have been a tight knit community.  People tied together by tribal rituals, balance of duties and survival all around.  The one unifying factor missing for them was knowledge of the Savior.  That would come later, and not always in biblical truth, but by enslavement and conversion from past traditions.  It’s a tragedy the people of these early communities were not honored by getting to know their ways and seeing some of their strength in communal harmony.  The villagers raised the crops, the children, provided safety from enemies, conducted the trading, the building, and in Acoma Pueblo culture they agreed on the choosing of their home by calling Haak’u as they traveled to new places.  

Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,… – Romans 15:5 NASB

     Today it is hard to imagine people being of the same mind.  We scurry from one activity to another, hardly noticing others as they scurry.  We do this at work, at home and at church.  It’s in our nature to avoid the real sharing, the identifying below the surface.  God made this possible through His Son Jesus Christ.  Once we share this fellowship then we can become a village of believers!   We become a village that can be of one mind and change the trail of brokenness.  We can help one another and share the gift of scripture.  Scripture rich in showing us how God always intended for us to live.  We can be of one mind, giving to the “Communal pot”.  We are now tied together by the blood of Christ!  We welcome you!

There is nothing in time or eternity more absolutely certain and irrefutable than what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross-  He made it possible for the entire human race to be brought back into a right standing with God.  He made redemption the foundation of human life; that is, He made a way for every person to have fellowship with God. – Oswald Chambers (from My Utmost For His Highest)

Jim and I atop the mesa of Acoma Pueblo