The World as a Gift

For Lent, I signed up for a JustFaith Ministry program, called "Sacred Land". The three required books are related.  Well, everything assigned was related: movies, videos, journaling, articles, cooking, letter writing, etc.  But what I enjoyed the most were the three books: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Laudato Si by Pope Francis, Earth Prayers, edited by Elizabeth Roberts, and Elias Amidon. 

Braiding Sweetgrass was written by a naturalist, scientist, and mother.  Robin Wall Kimmerer always lists "mother," first.  I can see that as a mother she loves nature. The theme is restorative reciprocity.  If we treat nature with care, nature will care for us.  She also uses similar terms like "obligate symbiosis," "covenant of responsibility," "mutual responsibility," and the "moral covenant of reciprocity."  You get the idea.

Coincidently, Pope Francis' encyclical, Laudato Si, is expounding on the same theme.  It's uncanny how Kimmerer and the Pope think alike.  

Kimmerer writes like a poet.  While Braiding Sweetgrass is instructing us in botany and environmental care of the land, the poetry of the author amazes the reader. No one who reads this book will walk through the woods, the same way as they did before reading Braiding Sweetgrass. 

Nature is God's gift, Pope Francis tells us.  As such, Kimmerer will explain that gifts require expressions of gratitude.  These expressions necessitate a responsibility to take care of Nature's gifts.

The last book, Earth Prayers, is a book of poetry.  Isn't praying poetry? 

Let us pray this Chinook Litany, on p. 106-7:  

We call upon the earth, our planet home,
with its beautiful depths and soaring heights,
its vitality and abundance of life,
and together we ask that it
Teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon the mountains,
Saddle Mountain and Wahkiakum Mountain,
the Willapa Hills, the summits of intense silence,
and we ask that they
Teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon the waters that rim the earth,
the waters of our great river the Iyagatthl Imathl,
the waters of Willapa Bay, and all of the waters,
the flowing of our rivers and streams,
the water that falls upon us,
and we ask that they
Teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon the land which grows our food,
the nurturing soil that sustains our lives,
and we ask that it
Teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon the forests, the great cedar trees
reaching strongly to the sky, with earth in their roots
and the heavens in their branches,
cedar tree, the keeper of all knowledge,
and we ask them to
Teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon the creatures of the fields and
forests and the seas, our brothers and sisters,
Lilu the Wolf, Mulak the Elk, and Mawich the Deer,
Ch’akch’ak the Eagle, the great Whales
and the Sturgeon, and the Salmon people
who share our Chinook waters,
and we ask that they
Teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon all those who have lived on this earth,
our ancestors and our friends,
who dreamed the best for future generations,
and upon whose lives our lives are built,
and with thanksgiving, we call upon them to
Teach us, and show us the way.

And lastly, we call upon all that we hold most sacred,
the presence and power of the Great Spirit
which flows through all the Universe,
to be with us to
Teach us, and show us the way.

Chinook Blessing