IT IS FINISHED

"BELIEF IS A THING THAT MUST INFORM THE SENSE OF PLACE... ONCE IN HIS LIFE A MAN OUGHT TO CONCENTRATE HIS MIND UPON THE REMEMBERED EARTH, I BELIEVE. AS I THINK OF IT, THIS IS A DECLARATION OF THE SACRED." TO N. SCOTT MOMADAY, OKLAHOMA IS THE REMEMBERED EARTH. OKLAHOMA IS SACRED?

THIS COMPARISON COMES FROM A NATIVE AMERICAN WRITER WHO ALSO SAID, "LET'S REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR, AS WE DO THE ALAMO... THE EQUATION SPEAKS FOR ITSELF." SPEAKS ABOUT WHAT?

AGAIN, THIS NOSTALGIC, ENVIRONMENTAL EVANGELIST WRITES THAT THE SONORAN DESERT IS "EARTH'S SOLARIUM BY DAY, AN ASTRONOMY BY NIGHT," AND "IN THE STORY OF CREATION, IN BEAUTY, IT (THE SOUTHWEST) IS FINISHED."

I BELIEVE FAITH INFORMS MAN TO REMEMBER HIS PLACE ON THE EARTH OF HIS GOD. GOD IS SACRED; EARTH IS PROFANE. THE DESERT IS BEAUTIFUL; REDEMPTION BEAUTIFIED HUMANITY'S SOUL WHEN JESUS SAID "IT IS FINISHED." WORDS ARE CAPABLE OF EVOKING POWER LIKE STARS, BUT MR. MOMADAY WOULD BE WISE TO REMEMBER THAT THE POWER OF HIS WORDS COMES NOT FROM THE EARTH OR NATIVE AMERICAN GHOST DANCES, BUT FROM GOD.