Reverend Virginia McIntyre

“The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.” -Galileo Galilei

On a bitter cold November morning in 1868, the Southern Cheyenne chief Black Kettle woke in his village along the Wash*ta River in what is now Oklahoma. 🕊️ He had survived the Sand Creek Massacre four years earlier and had spent the time since seeking peace, even carrying papers that promised his people protection.

At dawn, the Seventh Cavalry under George Custer attacked the sleeping camp. Black Kettle and his wife were killed trying to cross the river, and many others, including women and children, died in the snow. A man who had done everything he could to avoid war was struck down while still hoping for peace.

The Wash*ta is remembered today at a national historic site, a quiet place where the river still runs past the fields where the village once stood. Black Kettle’s long search for peace deserves to be remembered as clearly as the violence that ended it. Had you learned about Black Kettle and the Wash*ta in school?

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This quote is trying to say that a person’s true value cannot be measured by their external success, wealth, or status; it is revealed entirely through their character and the way they communicate. By contrasting “gold” with the “tongue,” the text explains that material riches are just a superficial cover-up. Anyone can buy nice things or act polished when it benefits them, but speech is an immediate window directly into the ego. The real test of a soul isn’t how it acts around the powerful or the influential—it’s how it treats “the broken, the small, and the silent.” Rumi is trying to tell you that true spiritual maturity is found in empathy. When a person interacts with those who can offer them absolutely nothing in return—the vulnerable, the hurting, or the quiet—their guards come down and their “true face” comes out. It’s a reminder that true royalty isn’t about what you own; it’s about the amount of gentleness, respect, and safety you offer to the people who need it most.