The past two years have been quite a journey with a few lows but primarily highs and grand events. The most recent posting shows the two most recent additions to the Overland clan. Grace, joined us on June 12th, Marjorie and my 39th wedding anniversary. I know you are thinking they are much too young to be grandparents, but things are mixed up these days and the traditional timelines of weddings, children, grandchildren, are a tossup and we are just grateful to catch the tip now and then. Grandchildren add a whole new luster to life and being a teacher, mentor, friend, and source of loving protection assumes primacy. They need to know which raspberrys are ripe, how to pluck them and check for flavor quality, what lives under the rock, why that buzzing sound from the snake means danger, and the joy of the scent of the newly opened lily. They should love poetry, recitation, music, literature, the exilaration of strenuous sport, and the satisfaction of serving others.
This benediction or offering starts my day. It originated with the Mohawk nation long before Europeons settled and tradition says they opened and closed each gathering of clan, tribe, or confederation with this offering. Gary Snyder, Pulitzer prize winning poet, put it in this contemporary form. I have adapted it somewhat to fit my inner sensibilities.
Prayer for the Great Family
GRATITUDE TO MOTHER EARTH
Soaring through night and day,
And to her soil, rich, rare, and sweet.
In our minds so be it
GRATITUDE TO THE SUN
Blinding pulsing light through the trunks of trees and mists
Warming the caves of sleeping bears and snakes
He who wakes us
In our minds so be it
GRATITUDE TO THE AIR
Bearing the soaring swift and silent owl at dawn
Breath of our prayer and song
Clear spirit breeze
In our mind so be it
GRATITUDE TO THE WATER
Clouds, rivers, lakes, or glaciers
Holding or releasing
Streaming through our body's salty streams
In our minds so be it
GRATITUDE TO THE PLANTS
Sun-facing life-changing leaf
Fine root-hairs withstanding wintry blasts and spring torrents
Their dance is in the flutter of leaf and spiral of wind swept grain
In our minds so be it
GRATITUDE TO THE WILD BEINGS
Our brothers, teaching secrets, ways, and freedoms
Who feed and cloth us
Self-complete, brave and aware
In our minds so be it
GRATITUDE TO THE GREAT SKY
Holding uncounted stars, more beyond that, beyond thought
And yet is within us
Home of Grandfather Spirit, the mind is his wife
In our minds so be it
Gratitude all of you for your thoughs and prayers.
Eric
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