::Why One Way::



~ A PROJECT OF COLORADO NONPROFIT DEVELOPMENT CENTER ~

	Why One Way The old man looks around the tipi and smiles at the children in the ceremony. Everyone is quiet and listens intently so as to soak up any wisdom dispensed by the chief of the ceremony. The chief looks at the young man for which the ceremony has been held. “Well, it’s up to you now,” he says with a wide grin. “We prayed all night for you. All of these people care about your life and are here and giving their time and prayers for you. We have this ceremony in our old tradition so that it will be the way we asked for it to be. We all know that your life will be good now. You have to believe that too. And them you have to walk every day like it is good. Even in no good comes your way, you pray and ask Creator to guide you and help you make decisions with your eyes open. Creator has already given us all we need to live and be happy on this mother earth. We went about this ceremony the way those old men showed us, we must believe that Creator has already made things the way we prayed they would be. It’s already that way. You’re going to be all right now, son. Now you go out and live this prayer. It’s the only way, the one way.” In our native tradition, it is said that there is only one way to make anything better. To make a vow and complete it in the form of a ceremony, to believe that things will be better, and to walk or live your own prayer and make things better. One Way Youth Services uses this line of thinking as a basis for working with gang members in the Denver area. We help youth that are entrenched in the gang to get to a point where they want to make the “vow” to change their lives. We then help them identify what needs to be changed and develop a plan for them to deal with that change. Of course, the most important element is them believing it will happen, that they are worth the change, and walking and living that belief every day. That is the only way, the One Way.
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