Ladder to the Light, An Indigenous Elder's Meditations on Hope and Courage

Steven Charleston

Steven Charleston is a member of the Choctaw Nation and an Episcopal bishop.

This unique perspective is what energies his book Ladderto the Light, An Indigenous Elder’s Meditations on Hope and Courage.

Charleston weaves Native American culture with Christian experience, taking us on a journey of exploration that uses a ladder – made up of Faith, Blessing, Hope Community, Action, Truth, Renewal and Transformation.

Throughout the upward path, one guiding principle holds true; he writes, “The key to understanding blessing is accepting the idea of intimacy with the sacred...I believe we begin to become the light that shines in the darkness when we begin to believe we are loved.”

For Charleston, it’s this relationship – of intimacy and love – which opens the door to what some Christians refer to as salvation. However, Charleston warns, “Some people find this relationship with the Spirit and then mistakenly stop there… They stop climbing. Instead, they build a comfortable spiritual cocoon where they feel safe. They are sure this kind of unconditional love means they are among the chosen. Through their personal relationship with the Spirit, they are saved. But this emphasis – on a private salvation rather than a shared hope – is a mistake, because it cuts short the next steps in our partnership with the Spirit.

One of the more powerful aspects of the ladder Charleston describes is the step of hope. “Hope arises when we embrace a sacred reality… it is the blueprint for a future our faith sees clearly before us. Hope is not a wish, but an intention.”

Hope, for Charleston, is the fuel that propels us upward.

“Hope changes history… When we claim hope for our home – when we make it the guiding energy of our faith – we transition from being scattered individuals who wish things would get better into being active partners with the Spirit, reshaping the balance of life toward mercy, justice and peace.”

“Hope makes room for love in the world. We can all share it, we can all believe in it, even if we are radically different in every other way. We no longer need to fear our differences because we have common ground.”

“Hope is a decision… Hope is creation in action.”

In regards to hope, Charleston concludes, “Here is the holy equation of faith: We are as strong as what we hope.”

After some time spent (powerfully) dwelling on this rung of the ladder, Charleston introduces us to the importance of the next step, “In the end, our hope is only as strong as our community.”

He defines community as: “A place of trust, welcome, and respect – that is the community we seek. It is not a community of one. It is not a gated community for a few of us who believe that we alone have found the truth. It is a wide, open community, welcoming to every human being… It is a community of seekers, but it is also a community of activists.”

In describing the rung of action, Charleston is clear to say that action springs from a diverse, inclusive point of view. “Celebrating what we hope for together is better than fighting over what we believe separately… Individual belief is interpretation. None of us, even members of the same organized religion, believes in exactly the same way… Native American spiritual systems take this kind of individual interpretation for granted and do not allow it to become the focal point for religion. Doing so would only invite people to argue endlessly about their differences instead of coming together to celebrate their similarities.”

The rung of truth is equally strong and a powerful partner to hope. “The steady rhythm of hope was never silenced. It beats today for all who would hear it. It beats within me. It beats within you. Life is still growing beneath the concrete. The sound of the earth is breathing beneath the glass and steel.”

This is all powerful stuff, especially considering the history of Native Americans, which includes forced marches (genocide) to barren lands, and being stripped of Native culture. Despite all of these horrors, Charleston sees a remarkably resilient belief system.

“They [Native Americans] were given one thing that was special to them: vision, the ability to see both what is now and what is coming to be. Sacred vision is our holy inheritance,”

The next rung Charleston describes is the rung of truth. “The importance of truth arose from a simple but profound understanding of what constitutes a civilization: no human system will endure unless it is built on truth.”

Charleston goes on to emphasize that, “[T]raditional Native American culture was not much concerned with religious truth claims, in a dogmatic sense. It was concerned with telling the truth on a personal level.”

Native Americans are in a powerful position to understand the importance of truth and its absence.

“Today, from Native America’s vantage point, tolerance of lies is the source of our dilemma. Once a culture allows truth to become relative or even meaningless, then that culture is in trouble. This is especially apparent in our political, judicial, and educational systems.”

“The Native American insistence on truth is a warning flag from a civilization that witness firsthand the cost of lies. The treaties made with our people were lies. The promises made to us were lies. The stories told about us were lies. The motives for taking our land were lies. The reasons for destroying our culture were lies.”

Charleston continues: “Few societies are as familiar with the full impact of lies as Native America. We are very experienced with the outcome of institutional lying.”

One might think that this reality would be enough to stop most people in their tracks, giving up on hope, truth, or any other rung of the ladder. But Charleston keeps pressing upward.

“We are called to stand in the light of renewal. We are asked to affirm our willingness to change, for unless we do – unless we embrace renewal and strive to enter into it – we will not pass from darkness to light. Our ancestors survived because they could adapt, even in the most difficult and challenging circumstances… From the Native American perspective, renewal is about seeing the past as a doorway into the future. The more we enter into the strength of the ancestors, the more we emerge into the courage, wisdom and commitment we need to live in the present.”

Part of the process of renewal, for Charleston, is the aspect of kinship.

“Kinship is the core. It is the guiding principle that makes community work, not only among human beings, but throughout the entire matrix of creation. We are related to all living things. We are bonded to them, intertwined with them, dependent upon them, and strengthened by them. Our community is rooted in kinship.”

“[We] must put down the idea that the earth is nothing more than a vast accumulation of natural resources. Instead, we must see the earth as a living presence. We must recognize the interrelatedness of all life and begin to actively engage in protecting and learning from all our relations.”

For Charleston, renewal leads to the final rung of transformation.

In this concluding section of Ladder to the Light, Charleston gives us this beautiful prayer.

“…Today, I believe in the final victory of hope over fear. I believe in the worth and dignity of every human being. Today, I believe all will be well with me through the love and grace of the Spirit. I may have bad days again, but this will not be one of them. I have a choice, and today I choose to stand again as a believer in the future before me. Some days, I believe I can change the world. This one of them.”

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Ladder to the Light: An Indigenous Elder's Meditations on Hope and Courage
by Steven Charleston
Broadleaf Books
2021