Alkidaa' - Once Upon a Time, there was a beautiful brown girl who grew up in the high deserts of the Southwest among the often-forgotten notions of state lines, blood relations, politics, and religion. She grew up believing in a different trinity, not only did she believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but her trinity included Navajo Tradition, Roman Catholicism, and Native American Church.

That is not odd in her family but may be considered odd to many, even practicing believers within each practice. That is okay. She was taught that people do not think like her and her family.

She had faith in her trinity of beliefs. Who thought this was such a good idea? Didn't Catholicism persecute her ancestors and relatives?

Aren't Native Americans extinct, why would she practice that? Who does she pray to?

While strangers ponder her decision and course of worship, she does not waiver. While sisters and brothers of patron saints warn her about the status of her soul if she continues to practice otherwise.

She prays to the Lord/Creator for comfort. While she sits up all night in the teepee (home for Indigenous people of the Great Plains) or in the hoghan (home for the Navajo people) she prays to all her deities and ancestors for guidance and strength.

She knows the Lord, Creator smiles upon her and her people as she prays because why else would she have been born the way she was? No, her faith does not waiver.

When hardship comes, she is armed with the prayers and traditions of her Navajo ancestors, her faith in God, and the medicine from earth.

The Lord shares advice through the bible. The Holy People guide her judgment through songs and ceremonies. The peyote reminds her that there is power in prayer. Her family gathers to support her with church services, NAC meetings, and through her ceremonies so that everyone, not just her, may be healed and straightened out.

Is it hard? Yes.

However, the Lord did not guarantee her an easy life when He set her on this earth. The Holy People did not exempt her from learning difficult lessons.

The fireplace did not save her from pain. None of them owed her any favors. Rather, she knows that even when hardship greets her over and over – her trinity wants the best for her. To her, that is an undeniable fact. Yes, it's hard but it is worth it.

How is it worth it? She'll tell others, "How do you return a gift as beautiful and invaluable as life? You can't. The reason why my trinity is worth the difficulty is because nothing she does will ever be enough to repay such a gift.

My ancestors lived more in their long years than she has yet to understand. My ancestors overcame genocide in all its forms to make sure I can tell our story.

The Holy People gave them that, which in turn, is a gift to me. The Lord Creator loved my ancestors enough to create a place for them to live and thrive.

The medicine from that blessed place is sacred and was respected by the Creator, Holy People, and my ancestors. That's not all of it but knowing that – makes it worth it."

Well, this is only a story from once upon a time, right? Fortunately, it is not just a story.

This is the truth for some who believe in a similar trinity. A tri-dimensional faith that has a delicate balance is different but is the truth of the girl who wrote this piece, the truth of her family, the truth of her friends, the truth of others.

Her trinity is not the stuff of fiction, nor is it for profit. Her trinity is sacred and as special as the earth and nature itself.

It is beyond comprehension for others but is perfectly understandable by the incomprehensible – only those with a spirit close in grace to the Holy Ones/Lord/Creator/ancestors/saints/deities/etc. can see her truth.