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Gifts of Thanksgiving






Dear Friend
, 

On this Thanksgiving Day, as we partake of the gifts of the Earth, may we give a gift in return; a prayer of Light for the healing of all people and our planet.  Loving gratitude is the most powerful force in existence, so Thursday, November 27th is a perfect opportunity to connect with the quantum sea of Light and envision people and the Earth balanced, whole, radiant and free.  Our collective prayers will bring great blessings to each of us.


Just such a blessing comes to you in this Thanksgiving greeting.  See the adjacent article, "One Nation", for a free download of a beautiful and important song by Jackie Tice, a Native American singer-songwriter living in Eastern Pennsylvania.  Also included in this cornucopia is the story of Thanksgiving, in case you want to share it with friends and family.

Jackie says in "One Nation" what I wrote in the latest issue of "The Still, Small Voice" (www.stillsmallvoice.org); that we are at a crossroads in our evolution, a pivotal moment in which we may boldly walk forward into a bright new reality and "take the great path", as Jackie's song says.  Light-filled prayer lifts us onto that path.

It is always best to say or sing your own prayer.  I offer this cornucopia as a way to pray peace together, in a global wave of gratitude in the eternal here and now, as we enter and bless this holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Judith
Pennington
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                     "One Nation"Jackie Tice

Polar ice is melting,
ocean waters heating fast 
Wind and rain are telling us
this storm may be our last
Grandfather,
there is no place left to go

Help us to remember
                  what we need to know

Jackie Tice's powerful song, "One Nation", reminds listeners of the plight of Mother Earth and the need to join hands for world peace and healing.  Jacqline Wolf Tice, a music ambassador who works in many countries for human rights, and especially the rights of indigenous people, debuted this song at the United Nations.  She is known internationally for her social activism, backed by her poetic message songs.

(as a Thanksgiving gift from Jackie,
follow this link for a download of
 "One Nation" .  When you get to the website,
scroll down and click on "Listen")


One of twelve children born in a Pennsylvania steel town, Jackie is no stranger to hard times and does not shy away from them.  If you enjoy "One Nation", you will love her award-winning albums:  "Let In the Joy", "Blue Coyote", "Second Skin", and her latest, "Morning Sky Drum Song".  Learn more about Jackie by visiting her website, www.JackieTice.com.  Be sure to read the rave reviews of music critics in American and abroad.

If Jackie has a motto, it is probably "Mitakuye Oyasin", meaning "We are all related".  This insightful commentary of hers on the earth as guardian and guide gives us a deep sense of what this salutation really means.

Finding Nature In Human Nature

The beauty of our relationship with Mother Earth is that she is a reflection of our best and worst selves.  We are inherently linked with her - physically, emotionally,, spiritually.  We see our own unsteady emotions in unpredictable weather patterns.  As well, the breadth of our ability to love is witnessed in astonishing sunrises and endless mountain ranges.

When we can stay close to Nature, to Mother Earth, we have access to a way of checking our personal balance.  Every Eagle we observe can give us a sense of clarity; each Thunderstorm can provide inspiration to resolve a conflict; a Fire can feed our perseverance.  When we say, "We are all related", we mean with each other and also with Mother Earth.

We are all related --- Mitakuye Oyasin
_______________________________
                                   
THE FIRST THANKSGIVING

The story of Thanksgiving touches us deeply and it's easy to see why.

In 1621, Squanto, a Wampanoag, and his friend Samoset, a Wabanake,
were hunting near the deserted village of Patuxet when they came upon a
ragtag group of Pilgrims. Patuxet, Squanto's village, had been wiped out by
the white man's diseases. Even so, he was sorry for these starving English
people. They were living in dirt-covered shelters, had little food, and nearly
half of them had died during the winter.
    
Squanto and Samoset had traveled with European explorers and knew more
English than any other Indians in North America. That was lucky for the
Pilgrims. Squanto stayed with them for the next few months and helped them
survive. He brought them deer meat and beaver skins, taught them to cultivate corn and other vegetables, and showed them how to build Indian-style houses. Among other things, he pointed out poisonous and medicinal plants and taught them to dig and cook clams, get sap from maple trees, and use fish as fertilizer.

By fall, the Pilgrims were well-established. They were living in wigwams and had built a church out of squared logs. The Algonquian-speaking Wampanoags were pleased to attend the first thanksgiving feast, since they themselves held six thanksgiving feasts each year to celebrate different feats of nature. On that November day, around ninety Wampanoag Algonquins arrived at the Pilgrim camp in the forest clearing near the beach. The English did not have enough food to feed everyone for the three days of the feast, so Massasoit, the Indian leader, ordered his men to go back home for most of the food eaten that day: five deer, many wild turkeys, fish, beans, squash, corn soup, corn bread and berries. Everyone sat together at tables: the Pilgrims and the Indians, men, women and children, the young and the old.

Miles Standish and Massasoit made a friendship agreement that allowed Plymouth to be built in the forest clearing on the ruins of Patuxet. Unfortunately, newcomers to Plymouth did not trust the native people or their religion and customs, and within a few years, the children of the people who ate together in the first Thanksgiving were killing each other in what came to be known as King Phillip's War.

A teaching website (http://www.2020tech.com) that tells this story in greater detail offers Indian recipes for the Thanksgiving holiday, along with a poignant end to this story.

Wampanoag people still live in Plymouth Rock today, and in 1970, one member of the tribe was invited to speak at a reenactment of the first Thanksgiving. This is part of what he said:

"Today is a time of celebrating for you-a time of looking back to the first days of white people in America. But it is not a time of celebrating for me. It is with a heavy heart that I look back upon what happened to my People. When the Pilgrims arrived, we, the Wampanoags, welcomed them with open arms, little knowing that it was the beginning of the end. That before 50 years were to pass, the Wampanoag would no longer be a tribe. That we and other Indians living near the settlers would be killed by their guns or dead from diseases that we caught from them. Let us always remember, the Indian is and
was just as human as the white people."

"Although our way of life is almost gone, we, the Wampanoags, still walk the land of Massachusetts. What has happened cannot be changed. But today we work toward a better America, a more Indian America where people and nature once again are important."

This is a sad story, but for one element-and that is our power to change the ending. We can do so through prayer and compassionate action.

First the intention and prayer: May the Living Light in each of us uplift native people, so many of whom are today confined to reservations riddled with drugs, alcoholism, poverty and crime. Low education, high unemployment, federal negligence in prosecuting violent crimes, and a profound sense of hopelessness continue to rob these proud people of their heritage, dignity
and the bright, rich future they deserve.

But may we do more than pray. Let us step forward to serve and support Native People as they served the Pilgrims so long ago. They gave everything; may we now give to them.

One way to give is by visiting http://www.JackieTice.com to purchase her music and support her outreach to the poor and disenfranchised people of the world. If you like, you can contribute money to the people on the South Dakota reservation who are snowed in right now and freezing and starving in subzero temperatures.

By contributing our time, talent and/or treasure, we can make a difference.
Yes we can!


HOPI ELDERS SPEAK

You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.  Now you must go back and tell the people this is The Hour.

There are things to be considered:  Where are you living?  What are you doing?  What are your relationships?  Are you in right relation?  Where is your water?  Know your garden.

It is time to speak your truth.  Create your community.  Be good to each other.  And do not look outside yourself for the leader.  This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now very fast.  It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.  They will try to hold on to the shore.  They will feel they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly. Know the river has its destination.

The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open and our heads above the water.  See who is there with you and celebrate.  At this time in history, we
are to take nothing personally --
least of all ourselves.  For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over.  Gather yourselves!  Banish the word "struggle" from your attitude and vocabulary.  All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we've been waiting for.

Hopi Elders Speak
_____________
A THANKSGIVING PRAYER FROM THE IROQUOIS (SENECA) PEOPLE

Gwa! Gwa! Gwa!
Now the time has come!
Hear us, Lord of the Sky!
We are here to speak the truth, for you do not hear lies, We are your children Lord of the Sky.

Now begins the Gayant' gogwus, this sacred fire and sacred tobacco.
 And through this smoke we offer our prayers.  We are your children,
Lord of the Sky.

Now in the beginning of all things You provided that we inherit your creation.  You said, "I shall make the earth on which people shall live, and they shall look to the earth as their mother, and they shall say, "It is she who supports us."  You said that we should always be thankful for our earth and for each other.  So it is that we are gathered here.  We are your children,
Lord of the Sky.

Now again the smoke rises and again we offer prayers.  You said that food should be placed beside us and it should be ours in exchange for our labor.  You thought that ours should be a world where green grass of many kinds should grow. 

You said that some should be medicines and that one should be Ona'o, the sacred food, our sister corn.  You gave to her two clinging sisters - beautiful Oa'geta, our sister beans and bountiful Nyo'sowane, our sister squash.  The three sacred sisters; they who sustain us.

This is what you thought, Lord of the Sky.  Thus did you think to provide for us and you ordered that when the warm season comes, that we should see the return of life and remember you, and be thankful, and gather here by the sacred fire.  So now again the smoke arises.  We the people offer our prayers.  We speak to you through the rising smoke.  We are Thankful,
Lord of the Sky.

(Liberally translated)
Chuck Larsen, Seneca





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