Mean Spirit

The next day as he rode on toward the bluffs, Stace Red Hawk felt a renewal of faith, the kind of feeling that comes to a man in silence, when he takes notice that a tree is older than himself, and that it will remain when he is gone. (p 230)

In spite of the wedding, it was a year of separations. Not only were people turning away from one another, but there were other splittings, mind from heart, body from spirit. Some broke quickly, weeping openly and without shame in public places. In others...the changes were barely visible. (p 170)

he glanced toward them, swallowed, and said quietly, "So sorry...It's not me doing it. It's not even the leasers. It's what is legal."

Belle sat down. "Why is it that so many crimes are backed up by your laws?"

Uncle Sam was a cold uncle with a mean soul and a cruel spirit. (p219)

Love, Lettie thought, it hurts and gladdens us no matter what a woman's age. (p177)

"The law is on their side because it's their law." (p111)

It was here, in religion, that all their sorrow came out. Moses could hear the Indian preacher speak, "And when the spirit touches us, there won't be any more danger here on earth," said the evangelist. "No mean spirits walking this land, no smallness in people, no heartaches, no sorrow, nor any pain." Moses knew the man's arms were raised up before the sad adults, and he heard the congregation cry out, "Amen," and in that word they were bound together. (p 71)

She slept on the ground of the cave that night, feeling the land, feeling it move up through her. She saw her own self lying there, a white-haired woman, a strong woman, part of earth's terrain. In the cave she remembered how there was hope in the land, hope and tomorrow living in the veins and stones of earth.

She remembered that the river was going to the sea, had been rain clouds and lakes. It had been snow. Now it was on its journey back to the great first waters of life.

"Are you afraid?" [she] curled up to [him]. "Yes." He held her hand. Such comfort in the flesh. Then he turned toward her, grateful for her presence, and held her, and because the desire for life goes on under all circumstances, they made love. (p230)

Beekeepers have a saying that honey begins with a drop of sugar, and misery starts with a mote of dust. (p 312)

"I think the Bible is full of mistakes. I thought I would correct them. For instance, where does it say that all living things are equal?" The priest shook his head. 'It doesn't say that. It says man has dominion over the creatures of the earth.' "'Well, that's where it needs to be fixed. That's part of the trouble, don't you see?'" (270)

It was a beautiful night, and she thought how wonderful it was to look out without fear (p373)

"Right or wrong. For us, it is such a simple thing, only a matter of whether a wrong has been done, or someone harmed. But they have books filled with words, with rules about how the story can and cannot be spoken. There is not room enough, nor time, to search for the real story that lies beneath the rest." (p341)

They stared ahead, into another future. (p342)

when all of them joined in to sing about lovers and fights and broken-down cars, it was a shared world, between all tribes, all nations. (p 296)

From the hills, the doings of town seemed distant and hazy to Belle. She fell into a new rhythm, more like the rhythm of earth, the cycles of night and day. (p 322)

After the second dinner, [he] blew out a candle. In the darkness, the stars and Milky Way lit up. No one noticed the electricity was turned off. The people all stood in front of the map of the universe, amazed by the lights on the wall. It was something, it really was, everyone thought. It was a fine, strong feeling, being there together with the stars lit up before them. Even if things were going wrong, the bad feelings disappeared in front of those stars. They wanted to touch each other that night and hold hands. (p 176)

He thought that even a prophet, even a warrior, could not survive the ways of the Americans, especially the government with rules and words that kept human life at a distance and made it live by their regulations and books. (p219)

[He] held his daughter's hand. They were praying. None of them spoke. No one had to. The silence was stronger than words. (p 202)

Spring was rich and heavy in the air. All the plants were turning over, beginning another journey upward toward the sun. (p 244)