A Change Has Got to Come

Delivered to Jay through Leonard J. Mountain Chief; Blackfeet Elder from
Northwest Montana


During my ten year relationship with my beloved adopted father Leonard J.
Mountain Chief, Leonard conveyed many important messages with me. He
emphasized the importance for vitally needed changes for planet Earth and
the people who inhabit her. These messages are of significant importance and
certainly more valuable than mere opinion. His visions and views that he
asked Jay to share many years ago are vitally important to be shared now, in
this time and place before our time here runs out.

Could end times become our reality? Without essential changes we could be
doomed as a race of Homosapians

As we often would do, Leonard and I were just hanging out on his ranch one
day. The view from Leonard’s place looking up to the Lewis and Clark
mountain range is breathtaking, especially during the spring wildflower
bloom, and the turning of fall, as it was on this day.

Leonard usually looked serene and happy, but not on this day. “Leonard,” I
said, “you look sad today. What’s wrong?”

“My boy, occasionally I become dismayed. My faith gets worn. I must admit it
makes me sad.” He began to cry deeply.

“A change has got to come,” Leonard said. My patience is wearing thin. When
will people wake up?” he asked.

“People everywhere are hurting one another. They seem to be unconscious and
they are lying, cheating, stealing, hoarding, killing and raping each other,
the land and the less fortunate peoples everywhere. Why does this continue
to go on?” Leonard asked.

“I am no Pollyanna,” he cried, “I know things are hard in the world and
it's a rough road. Even young children seem to have little or no respect for
the older ones or their own teachers. I know a woman teacher who asked one
of her students not to skateboard through the common areas, and out of hate,
the student beat her with his skateboard.

"I know this is only one example, but this is what I see as the problem. Not
even good manners are applied today. Where does so much anger come from?" he
asked. "What makes people want to be so violent? I thought things were
changing, but I see they are not.

“Why do people continue to beat one another? Why do needless wars continue?”
asked Leonard?

"Once long ago, I was the student of the shaman of our tribe and he taught
us to have deep respect for our elders and to follow our roots very closely.
What has happened?” he asked. “My prayers have not been answered yet. People
have no trust in their hearts, and I cannot see why it is taking so long for
them to wake up. I feel like I have failed,” said Leonard.

“What is so hard for me to experience,” Leonard continued, “is that people
know! Deep in their heart of hearts, people know the difference between
right and wrong, good and bad, love and evil. But it goes much further into
a deep understanding of ethics and morals. It is the cutting edge of
kindness, gentleness, and doing good for our neighbor and our fellow man or
woman. The cutting edge of goodness—that is the deciding factor in mankind’s
survival on planet earth.

“I have seen many great leaders in my life,” said Leonard. "Along my
journey, I have come to know great philosophers, statesmen, poets, writers,
shamans, religious leaders, and many of your New Age spokespersons and
healers. They have all recognized and spoken of love’s power and taught that
clean hands make a clean heart. Yet why does stubbornness persist? I see
people erring in consistent and huge numbers. I see world hunger; I see the
air going so bad it chokes off the oxygen of children at play.”

“Leonard, what is the solution to the problem?” I asked. “What is it you
want people to see or do?”

Leonard replied, “Love one another! Your books and teachers have covered
these subjects very well. I want to see the lessons sink in. When people are
able to operate from a place of heart, love, compassion, sharing, and caring
beyond what they think they are capable of, they will prosper more than they
ever hoped or thought possible. Just look at the last statement of your
Jesus Christ dying on the cross, ‘Forgive them father, for they know not
what they do.’ Jesus was trying to get us to love not only our neighbors,
but also our enemies. What is so hard for people to understand about this?”
Leonard asked.

“How can people do that, Leonard?" I asked.

“By looking deeply and accepting the guidance of the Great Spirit. He will
never lead people astray. People know what it means to do onto your neighbor
as you would have your neighbor do onto you. People, even unconsciously,
know the difference between peace and war, love and hate, friend or foe. No
one in a human body on this planet today can say they do not understand
these things except out of greed, fear, anger, untruth, mis-guided hate, and
just plain stupidity. I have asked you several times in our walks to look,
look closely into nature—she holds all of the answers. The love you feel for
nature and the nature of man is the love this place needs so very badly.
Especially right now.”

“Why now? Why does this bother you so, Leonard?” I asked. “Can you just let
it go the way it is going? A perfect world is not possible.”

“Don’t you believe it,” Leonard said. “If I have taught you anything, my
boy, it is to have faith and believe in all possibilities and in the natural
goodness in man and woman, and that anything can happen—goodness is
abundant,” he said.

"It starts in our imaginations and manifests through our dreams, thoughts,
and actions. All life is possible, and all things are possible, with the
love of the Great Spirit, the love that is in each of us. That’s how we got
to these modern times, by dreaming big dreams, dreams that most thought were
insane or not possible. Dreams of great love. Is Shangri-La possible?”
Leonard asked.

“Yes, it is,” he replied before I could answer.

“What worries me and saddens me,” Leonard said, “is that I thought things
had changed enough for more people to get this than have. A change has got
to come, my boy. There is no other way, before we run out of time.”

“Does this have to do with nuclear?” I asked.

“Yes, that, and more,” Leonard replied. “It has to with water, air, with
fossil fuel consumption, man-made diseases, greed by big-time world control
powers, war, hate, fear, jealously, envy, rage, separation, and just plain
stupidity. I was hoping to see major changes before I leave this place,” he
said.

Leonard bounded up with sudden joy.

“Jay, here is a test for you. It is nothing new or original, just a test.
Let’s see if we can make it work together: you and me, and everyone you
know. Go now and find three people who need something, who require
assistance in some way. It doesn’t matter what it is, how big or how small,
rise up and lend a hand. Give, share, put yourself out, go off your normal
path, and do something out of the ordinary for someone you know—or someone
you do not know—even better that way,” said Leonard. “Ask them to recognize
what you have done and do not ask nor take anything in return. But do ask
them to do the same for three others. Go now. Help three and ask them to
help three. Can you just imagine?” Leonard asked, and he cried with
excitement.

“While you’re at it, write your congress people and senators and ask them to
do the same, only on a worldwide basis. Ask them to rid the books of useless
out-of-date laws, such as the Ghost Dance being against the law, and to
operate from a place of love and ethics. ‘Whose ethics?’ you may be asking.
Their own ethics based on good. Good for the most people everywhere. Good
for the environment, the planet, animals, plants, the water, and the rocks.
They will look and they will know the creation you are intending by looking
into their own hearts. If they do not, elect new ones who will,” Leonard
said.

“Go now, my boy, save the planet from blowing away. Look at all the things
you can do for someone today, every man, every woman, every child. Just
start with three and ask them to do the same.

“Here’s one more challenge. Before you go, find a way to create world peace
and save the environment and planet Earth from destruction. No, too heavy?”
Leonard asked. “Okay, just go and do good works for three.”

“A change is going come,” said Leonard, "when we come from the highest place
of the Great Spirit, love, ethics, morals, and deliberate compassion. There
is no other way. Let’s see if we can wake some more folks up before we run
out of time. Even the Dalai Lama said, ‘This is the place for people to
become free.’ Call it, ‘Share to Three.’”

“Love one another." It sounds so simple. But it's like Freedom of Speech in
the sense that we want to do it when it is our way—but when it has to do
with another's thoughts or words or actions, we start back-pedaling, and
fast.

What does it mean to love one another? What is love? Love is unconditional.
It has to be—or it is just liking a lot for a time. Unconditional love loves
you when you are otherwise unlovable. Can I love you if you believe
differently than I do? Can I love you if you hurt me or someone I love? Can
you love me when I am wrong? Can we help one another?

Love for one another, as The Great Spirit put it, love whether we like
another person or not. We can dislike someone, their actions, or their
ideas, but we are still charged to love them. Loving them is being willing
to accept that they are just as entitled as we are to think, believe, speak
and act and know right from wrong. "This is in their hearts," Leonard said.
"Loving them is wishing the best for them, doing for them, even if they do
not feel this way about us. Most of all, love is acceptance," and this is
what Leonard longed for.

What a world! Acceptance, love for one another, apart from looking, acting,
or thinking alike. Apart from what differences we have. No, we never have to
like what we believe is wrong, but we will come a long way when we learn to
love people despite our differences and go out of our way to show it.

Let’s go out and share this love with three we meet today.