Echoes of HU

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Guest Post by Dennis Ernst

Have you ever wondered what influence you have on the world around you? We sometimes forget that singing HU, the ancient love song to God, leaves a powerful impression on our environment. We’re not always around to see its effects, but one experience from many years ago brought home this realization and left a lasting impression on me. 

I was working as a Land Surveyor on a remote portion of an Indian reservation in northeastern Oregon. My coworkers and I were camping out in order to be near our job during the week. It’s hard to find time or a quiet place to be alone and practice your spiritual exercises when you work, eat, and sleep in such close proximity to others. 

As I am a natural “early bird,” I would get up just before dawn and hike about half a mile cross country to a small lake I had discovered on one of my first days on the job.

The little lake was beautiful and totally isolated from the rest of the world. High rocky cliffs surrounded the lake on three sides, and on the wooded side there was a nice smooth rock knob located near the water that caught the first rays of morning’s light. This was an ideal spot to soak up the warmth of the early morning sun and do my spiritual exercises.

I soon learned that the three surrounding cliffs provided wonderful echoes as I softly sang “the HU.” I loved this spot immediately and immensely enjoyed listening to the seemingly endless echoes of HU.

It was a few weeks later that an unusual comment from one of my Native American crew members led me to discover that I was not alone at the little lake.  

As I was the only “white man” in the camp, this young Native American had thought it was unusual for me to get up so early and hike to the lake to chant. Upon talking to him, I learned that after I would leave each morning, he would sit in my place and listen to the echoes of the HU that he could still hear long after I had gone. 

He asked me about the word I chanted and the echo that seemed to never die. I told him about HU and explained that it is a love song to Mother Earth, the Great Spirit, and to the Grandfather to all life; even to him. 

I asked him to join me some morning if he chose, but he never did. Nothing more was ever said, nor did I ever learn of any of the other crew members knowing anything about this.

It was almost a year later when I ran into this fellow again. He immediately wanted to take me aside and talk, for he had many questions. He had continued to go to the lake after I had left, to listen to the echoes of the HU. As the days passed, the echo diminished until it got too faint for him to hear. 

“What happened?” he questioned. “Why did the power of HU leave the lake? Did the Great Spirit not like him or did he do something to offend IT?” 

I asked him if he had ever sung the HU as I had done. No, no he hadn’t. He didn’t feel he was a man of power or had any right. I suggested that he do as I had done and sing the HU loud and long, filling it with all the love he could possibly muster. I told him that he could sing the sacred song anywhere, silently or aloud, and that he, too, could share it with others, with the animals, and with all life.

I never heard from him again, but I have never forgotten him or this special experience. We all influence the world around us with the thoughts we think and the words we say. None are more powerful than the ancient love song to God—HU.

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Dennis Ernst is a retired Professional Land Surveyor who now devotes his time to sharing the natural beauty he finds on his many treks through photography, blogs, and poetry. Please visit his website, Dennis Ernst Photography, for a glimpse into his fascinating world.