The Book of Mipahneht

[NARRATOR — SPOKEN VOICE ONLY] [DO NOT SING] Today we continue through the Nemenhah Sacred Records with The Book of Mipahneht, daughter of Tiahnihcuhmseht. Her record is short. Only six verses. And at first... it may seem that very little happens. There is no great war. No terrible destruction. No dramatic migration. No great new prophecy. Instead... Mipahneht tells us about her family. Her father remained faithful in his stewardship throughout his life. The settlements of Mihnihsahohrit continued following the ways of the Peacemaker. The people prospered. Different peoples joined together. And a nation rose from what remained of their forefathers. Then Mipahneht tells us about herself. She calls herself... a simple woman. She makes no claim to greatness. She simply continued the traditions of her fathers... and taught them to her children. She taught them the Way. She taught them the path laid before them by the Peacemaker. And then... her children had to choose. Mipahneht writes one of the simplest and most beautiful teachings in her record: “The joy of the mother is in the choices of her children.” She could teach them. She could love them. She could show them the Way. But she could not make their choices for them. And her children... chose the good. That was enough for Mipahneht. That was her joy. Then she tells us something else remarkable. Her generation... passed in peace. Think about that. After generations of migration... drought... conflict... prophecy... and uncertainty... a record keeper finally had very little tragedy to write about. The people simply lived. They raised families. They worked. They taught their children. They followed the Peacemaker. And they had peace. The records that follow Mipahneht tell us this peace continued. Her son could write: “There was no war in my generation.” And generations later... their descendants were still preserving the records... still remembering their ancestors... and still walking the ways of their Grandfathers. Perhaps that is the great lesson of Mipahneht. We sometimes look for God only in the spectacular. The miracle. The vision. The prophecy. But perhaps one of God's greatest miracles is much quieter. A mother teaching her children. Children choosing the good. Families loving one another. A community refusing unnecessary conflict. And an entire generation... that simply lives in peace. Maybe that isn't the uneventful part of the story. Maybe that is the goal. To walk with the Peacemaker so faithfully... that someday someone can write of our children: They chose the good. And of our generation: They lived in peace. [MUSIC WARMS AND GENTLY BUILDS] [BEGIN SINGING — VERY SHORT] Teach them the Way... Show them the good... Let them choose... As children should... Walk with the Peacemaker... Faithfully... And may our children... Live in peace. [END]