"Wisdom from a Sundance Chief"
by Liz LaurenoDuring the team event that was held in the P.E. building, I had an experience that was quite unexpected. I anticipated the event to be focused on education within the classroom, but the class I attended dealt with a different type of learning: dealing with guilt. The speaker was a Native American, who was named Mr. McCullough. I was very impressed with Mr. McCullough’s unique insights and perspective. He felt that guilt is a negative force that leads to destruction.
In order to alleviate guilt, Mr. McCullough suggests turning it over to the dead. This is a really interesting concept, because I never really thought the dead were capable of helping the living. My religious background taught me that the dead either go to heaven or hell. Mr. McCullough believes that your ancestors want to help you. Although they are dead they haven’t forgotten about and you can allow them to carry some of the weight of your troubles by turning it over to them.
Mr. McCullough’s charity work takes him many places where he gives encouraging talks that promote freedom of the soul to many people around the world. He indicated that he plans to visit Germany in order to assist with the national guilt of the holocaust. According to Mr. McCullough, many German people today still feel guilty about the holocaust, and his mission is to help free them of their guilt. Mr. McCullough believes in forgiveness, and thinks people shouldn’t feel guilty about the things their ancestors did or things they themselves have done in the past that cause shame and depression.I found Mr. McCullough to be a very unique individual. He has visions (literally) and a genuine desire to help heal the world. It’s comforting to know that there are different types of teachers, and we’re all trying to improve lives all over the world. My experience at the team event taught me that there are many facets of education: mental, physical, and spiritual. The key is to achieve a balance. Hopefully, when I’ve reached Mr. McCullough’s stage in life, I’ll be able to say that I’ve positively affected the lives of others too.