Wisdom of the Ancients
"In ancient times, the main purpose of nightly Council Fires was to learn how to listen.”
READING ~ from Other Council Fires Were Here Before Ours: A Classic Native American Creation Story as Retold by a Seneca Elder, Twylah Nitsch, and Her Granddaughter, Jamie Sams. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991.
Grandpa Moses Shongo, a Seneca Medicine Man, reminded the human world that “other Council Fires were here before ours.”
Grandfather Shongo told the stories that kept the history of The Faithful and the Red Race alive in the hearts of those who listened. His quote, “Other Council Fires Were Here Before Ours,” is carved above the rotunda of the Erie County Historical Society and Museum in Buffalo, New York. This quote is a reminder that we Two-leggeds were preceded by our Ancestors, and they were preceded by the Creature-beings and Plant People, who were preceded by the Stone Tribe. In every generation, there have been those who believed that the wisdom of the Ancients was outdated, forgetting that without the proper use of that wisdom, the present generation might not have survived. (Introduction, p.3)
Those of you who have ears to hear and eyes to see and hearts to understand know that these truths are for all races, all people. The Great Mystery created the Children of Earth in different colors so that one day they would come together and compose the Whirling Rainbow Tribe of Peace. Now is the dawning of that special time. The promise of world peace is unfolding. We, of the Stone Tribe, trust that the Path of Beauty will be made clear to all two-leggeds once they remember the victories and the failures of the other worlds that flourished and then passed into oblivion. Those old worlds have served the Children of Earth by leaving legacies that gently point the way to the new world’s prophecy of peace. We, your ancient Brothers and Sisters of the Stone Tribe, are here to remind you that the time is now and that the power of this prophecy lives in you. (Prologue, pp 6-7)
READING ~ from Wisdomkeepers: Meetings With Native American Spiritual Elders (Earthsong Collection) by Steve Wall and Harvey Arden. Beyond Words; 1st Edition, 1991.
Preamble
Think not forever of yourselves, O Chiefs,
nor of your own generation.
Think of continuing generations of our families,
think of our grandchildren
and of those yet unborn,
whose faces are coming from
beneath the ground.
Words spoken by the Peacemakes,
founder of the Irouois Confederacy,
circa 1000 A.D.
SERMON
"In ancient times, the main purpose of nightly Council Fires was to learn how to listen.”
It is time for a Council Fire. It is time to learn how to listen and to practice listening - - for the rest of our lives, so that our descendants might survive.
How do I begin to share with you all that is in my heart this day?
In a week, our world has changed dramatically.
Now, we wash our hands – often and thoroughly.
Now, we think and speak act in accordance with our understanding of this Novel Coronavirus.
We follow the updates from the Centers for Disease Control – both national and state.
We follow the advice provided from our Unitarian Universalist Association and the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association.
We wash our hands - often and thoroughly.
Now, we close down our places of public gathering.
We cancel travel and vacation plans.
We close down our trips to run unnecessary errands.
We close our schools and our town offices and our houses of worship.
We pray that we keep open our hearts and minds.
We pray for each other.
We pray for those who will lead us through this time of raging illness.
We pray for those who will stay at their job of keeping us safe and caring for our sick and comforting our lonely.
We pray that everyone is washing their hands – often and thoroughly.
It is time for a Council Fire so that we might sit together (spiritually and virtually) and listen to the wisdom of the ancients.
We are not the only ones.
We are not the first ones.
Let us reach out and remember the wisdom of the ancients – the ones who came before us and those who came before them and back as far as to those who were the first expressions of the Great Mystery’s work to create our world.
In the beginning
There was light
Infinite and expansive
Flowing out from an unseen center.
I’m part of the book discussion group at our Ellsworth UU Church – we’re talking about The Indigenous People’s History of the United States. It’s a difficult read emotionally and it gets weighted down in the details of the history of colonization and the impact on Native people. I’m grateful to be part of a group of UUs processing what we are learning. Yet, it’s hard.
Several people suggested reading Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book, Braiding Sweetgrass, alongside as a more upbeat voice of contemporary Native American experience. What a nice suggestion. In reading Braiding Sweetgrass, I am invited into the wisdom of the ancients in a way I had forgotten. This ancient story is about our relationship with land and creatures and spirit. It is about reciprocity rather than dominance or subjugation. There is an ancient and deep wisdom here.
In one section of the book, Robin Wall Kimmerer describes the Thanksgiving Address. Now, if you have never heard the Thanksgiving Address, I encourage you to find it (Google can help) and read it – out loud; say the words. These are the words that begin the day.
“Here the school week begins and ends not with the Pledge of Allegiance, but with the Thanksgiving Address, a river of words as old as the people themselves, known more accurately in the Onondaga language as the Words That Come Before All Else. This ancient order of protocol sets gratitude as the highest priority. The gratitude is directed straight to the ones who share their gifts with the world.”
Kimmerer, Robin Wall. Braiding Sweetgrass (p. 107). Milkweed Editions. Kindle Edition.
The beginning of the Thanksgiving Address:
The People Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue. We have been given the duty to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things. So now, we bring our minds together as one as we give greetings and thanks to each other as people.
Now our minds are one.
The Earth Mother We are all thankful to our Mother, the Earth, for she gives us all that we need for life. She supports our feet as we walk about upon her. It gives us joy that she continues to care for us as she has from the beginning of time. To our mother, we send greetings and thanks.
Now our minds are one.
………. The end of the Thanksgiving Address:
The Creator Now we turn our thoughts to the Creator, or Great Spirit, and send greetings and thanks for all the gifts of Creation. Everything we need to live a good life is here on this Mother Earth. For all the love that is still around us, we gather our minds together as one and send our choicest words of greetings and thanks to the Creator.
Now our minds are one.
Closing Words We have now arrived at the place where we end our words. Of all the things we have named, it was not our intention to leave anything out. If something was forgotten, we leave it to each individual to send such greetings and thanks in their own way.
Now our minds are one.[1]
Gratitude. Seneca Medicine Man and Elder Grandfather Moses Shongo shared this same wisdom about beginning with Gratitude. He meant for this wisdom to be shared with all people. Forgetting gratitude leads to spiritual disconnection. We suffer now from forgetting to begin each day with words of gratitude. Grandfather Shongo:
”In every generation, there have been those who believed that the wisdom of the Ancients was outdated, forgetting that without the proper use of that wisdom, the present generation might not have survived.” (Introduction, p.3)
Our white European American consumer-based market economy and dominance culture teach us more about taking and owning than it does about gratitude.
Our ancestors survived because they remembered gratitude and the original instructions about reciprocal relationships with creation.
We may not survive without those who remember Gratitude.
Our grandchildren may not survive.
It’s time for a new Council Fire – where we will sit together and learn to listen to the wisdom of the ancients.
“You can’t listen to the Thanksgiving Address without feeling wealthy. And, while expressing gratitude seems innocent enough, it is a revolutionary idea. In a consumer society, contentment is a radical proposition. Recognizing abundance rather than scarcity undermines an economy that thrives by creating unmet desires. Gratitude cultivates an ethic of fullness, but the economy needs emptiness. The Thanksgiving Address reminds you that you already have everything you need. Gratitude doesn’t send you out shopping to find satisfaction; it comes as a gift rather than a commodity, subverting the foundation of the whole economy. That’s good medicine for land and people alike.”
Kimmerer, Robin Wall. Braiding Sweetgrass (p. 111). Milkweed Editions. Kindle Edition.
“Cultures of gratitude must also be cultures of reciprocity. Each person, human or no, is bound to every other in a reciprocal relationship. Just as all beings have a duty to me, I have a duty to them. If an animal gives its life to feed me, I am in turn bound to support its life. If I receive a stream’s gift of pure water, then I am responsible for returning a gift in kind. An integral part of a human’s education is to know those duties and how to perform them. The Thanksgiving Address reminds us that duties and gifts are two sides of the same coin. Eagles were given the gift of far sight, so it is their duty to watch over us. Rain fulfills its duty as it falls, because it was given the gift of sustaining life. What is the duty of humans? If gifts and responsibilities are one, then asking “What is our responsibility?” is the same as asking “What is our gift?” It is said that only humans have the capacity for gratitude. This is among our gifts. It’s such a simple thing, but we all know the power of gratitude to incite a cycle of reciprocity.”
Kimmerer, Robin Wall. Braiding Sweetgrass (p. 115). Milkweed Editions. Kindle Edition.
We humans cannot take continuously without suffering great calamity – like climate collapse and mass extinctions and the pollution of air, land and water.
Reciprocity. Balance. Giving and Receiving. Receiving and Giving.
It’s time for a new Council Fire – where we will sit together and learn to listen to the wisdom of the ancients.
This is our lesson – to listen, to listen to the wisdom of the Thanksgiving Address and begin our day with words of gratitude. In gratitude, we may remember and restore our sense of relationship with land, air, fire, water and all our relations.
“The moral covenant of reciprocity calls us to honor our responsibilities for all we have been given, for all that we have taken. It’s our turn now, long overdue. Let us hold a giveaway for Mother Earth, spread our blankets out for her and pile them high with gifts of our own making. Imagine the books, the paintings, the poems, the clever machines, the compassionate acts, the transcendent ideas, the perfect tools. The fierce defense of all that has been given. Gifts of mind, hands, heart, voice, and vision all offered up on behalf of the earth. Whatever our gift, we are called to give it and to dance for the renewal of the world. In return for the privilege of breath.” Kimmerer, Robin Wall. Braiding Sweetgrass (p. 384). Milkweed Editions. Kindle Edition.
Now is our time to return to the wisdom we have forgotten, ignored or rejected and begin again, in Love, to establish reciprocity among all of creation.
This is how we will survive and how our children will survive – to remember and heed the wisdom of those who have gone before us.
Gratitude not arrogance
Reciprocity not dominance
The wisdom to survive – for our grandchildren
Think not forever of yourselves, O Chiefs,
nor of your own generation.
Think of continuing generations of our families,
think of our grandchildren
and of those yet unborn,
whose faces are coming from
beneath the ground.
Words spoken by the Peacemakes,
founder of the Irouois Confederacy,
circa 1000 A.D.
Blessed Be. I Love You. Amen.
[1] This translation of the Mohawk version of the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address was developed, published in 1993, and provided, courtesy of: Six Nations Indian Museum and the Tracking Project All rights reserved.
Thanksgiving Address: Greetings to the Natural World English version: John Stokes and Kanawahienton (David Benedict, Turtle Clan/Mohawk) Mohawk version: Rokwaho (Dan Thompson, Wolf Clan/Mohawk) Original inspiration: Tekaronianekon (Jake Swamp, Wolf Clan/Mohawk)
