The Record of Tlehsiuhm

[NARRATOR — SPOKEN VOICE ONLY] [DO NOT SING] Today we continue through the Nemenhah Sacred Records... with The Record of Tlehsiuhm. For generations, the people of Mihnihsahohrit had known peace. Then strangers came across the East Sea. They were sick. The Tuhihlhah cared for them... and eventually the strangers departed. But soon... a terrible sickness swept through the people. The record calls it... the Wasting Sickness. Before the healers understood how to treat it... two out of every three men among the Tuhihlhah had died. Husbands were gone. Fathers were gone. Young men were gone. Widows gathered their children... and fled toward Mihnihsahohrit seeking refuge. The people remembered earlier generations... when catastrophe had torn communities apart. They did not want history repeated. So they turned to Tlehsiuhm. And Tlehsiuhm... turned to the Peacemaker. He went upon the Way. He entered his safe place. And he poured out his heart for his people. Then... the Peacemaker came. And He asked Tlehsiuhm a remarkable question: “What is it that the Nemenhah require of the Peacemaker that they cannot ask of themselves?” The answer changed the community. They could feed the hungry. They could shelter the widow. They could protect the children. They could open their homes. And from that need came something the record calls... Lehbirhah. The women counseled together. When a widow needed a family... a wife could take the widow's hand... and place it into the hand of her husband. The widow and her children became part of the household. But the record makes an important distinction. This was not another marriage for procreation. It was not an excuse to multiply wives. Tlehsiuhm describes Lehbirhah as... “a type of adoption, but nothing else.” They were joined... because of charity and love. Think about that. Tragedy had broken families apart. The answer was not to weaken the covenant. The answer... was to strengthen the family. Make room. Set another place at the table. Feed another child. Protect another mother. Let nobody face tragedy alone. That is Zion. And perhaps that is the greatest lesson of Tlehsiuhm. When suffering comes... we sometimes ask: Lord, why don't You do something? And sometimes His answer may be: I have. I sent you. Your hands can feed. Your home can shelter. Your heart can love. Your family can make room. Because the Way of the Peacemaker... is the Way of charity. James would later describe pure religion as caring for... the fatherless and widows in their affliction. Tlehsiuhm's people learned that truth... in one of the darkest moments of their history. And instead of allowing tragedy to destroy them... they answered suffering... with love. [MUSIC GENTLY RISES] [BEGIN SINGING — SHORT REFRAIN] Make room at the table... Make room in the heart... Gather His children... Though worlds fall apart... Let charity lead us... And love show the Way... Walk with the Peacemaker... Today. [END]