40 Days of Peace Day Twenty Three
The Honorable Harvest
Learning From Indigenous culture
What would happen if today we chose to
live by the honorable harvest?
We live in a world of abundant gifts. Every morning when we lift our head off the pillow and take a deep inhale of air, we take in one of the first gifts of our existence. But as humans we have other needs that we must go out and seek. Clean water, shelter and food to eat, to name the basics.
We’ve talked about the language of animacy and how our perspective shifts when we give life to the tomato and squash we consume. When we see the turkey and deer as brothers, we become aware of our consumption on a deeper level. Not to say that it is wrong to consume, but to give honor to their life changes everything. To pause. To respect. To give great thanks. To see them and love them. In this mindful space, we receive the gift of the turkey and the tomato on a deeper level. THIS gives a gift back to the bird and the vegetable. This gives them both our mutual love and respect in a sacred circle.
“We are accountable for the lives that we take.
When we speak of the living world as kin, we also are called to act in new ways,
so that when we take those lives, we must do it in such a way that brings honor
to the life that is taken and honor to the ones receiving it” -Robin Wall Kimmerer
“The canon of indigenous principles that govern the exchange of life for life is known as the Honorable Harvest. They are “rules” of sorts that govern our taking, so that the world is as rich for the seventh generation as it is for us.
The Honorable Harvest, a practice both ancient and urgent, applies to every exchange between people and the Earth. Its protocol is not written down, but if it were, it would look something like this:
THE HONORABLE HARVEST
Ask permission of the ones whose lives you seek. Abide by the answer.
Never take the first. Never take the last.
Harvest in a way that minimizes harm.
Take only what you need and leave some for others.
Use everything that you take.
Take only that which is given to you.
Share it, as the Earth has shared with you.
Be grateful.
Reciprocate the gift.
Sustain the ones who sustain you, and the Earth will last forever.
I have a dream…
The Honorable Harvest found its way to me many years ago and as I read it the first time, I remember the tears and the spirit chills that radiated my vessel. Every sentence is a powerful gift that teaches us how to live in harmony and unison as one, not only with each other but with all of nature. I felt this heart song within my own heart… my heart song joined in and in harmony I felt so much hope. A dream was born inside me… to live the honorable harvest and sing this song everywhere I went. To share my gifts with the world. To speak to the trees and the bees more often. To take only what I needed and to share the rest. To see everything as a gift! To see all beings as my relatives. And in so, it is my joy and my obligation … to take good care of them.
When we live in this prayer of gratitude, we cultivate a peace within our souls that is contagious.
Its true what Robin says, “Though we live in a world made of gifts, we find ourselves harnessed to institutions and an economy that relentlessly ask, “What more can we take from the Earth?” In order for balance to occur, we cannot keep taking without replenishing. Don’t we need to ask, “What can we give?””
Have you ever heard the saying?
The Law of the Land is Written on the HEART
I believe that the heart knows the honorable harvest, if only we could be still and removed from the system long enough to listen. We have our own knowing, greed doesn’t give us peace, but sharing sure does. We all know, a meal tastes much better when shared with friends. There’s an exchange of energy that happens when we share our gifts, especially in a prayer of gratitude.
Perspective is everything.
A few days into our time at camp we were asked to join our Rosebud family for a meal in the mess hall tent. We brought lots of food to donate to the camp, but we had also brought our own food. Our thought at the time was that we didn’t want to take the camps food, it was our gift to share, not to take.
We gratefully accepted the invitation to join for a meal and soon learned that the gift was in sharing a meal together. All meals were shared at the same time, and all meals started with circle and prayer. Before breakfast, we gathered in a circle. This circle would grow as time went on, but the practice was always the same.
A Spirit plate was made, which is the first bite of each food prepared, given in gratitude to Spirit. An elder would offer up a prayer, holding the Spirit plate, which would then be placed on the alter by the sacred fire. This gift brought me to tears the first time. Even as a “PK”, growing us with lots of prayers, I had never experienced this depth of gratitude for the food I was consuming. It was simply not a part of our culture.
After prayer, the greetings began. Around the circle, each person would travel, one by one, greeting each relative with a smile, a hug or handshake, eye to eye… Hihanni Waste.. good morning to you.
Can you imagine how this practice shifts our perspective into a space of gratitude and peace? Can you imagine our children looking at the world through these eyes?
As we walk into the season of “holy days” perhaps this year we will be in a mindset of Gratitude and Giving. Perhaps the Honorable Harvest will help us resist the urge to consume out of greed or fear. Perhaps we’ll start thinking about how we can relate to one another and all of nature, with grace and generosity. Perhaps we’ll honor our own bodies in ways we never thought of before. Perhaps we’ll consider “food as medicine” a little deeper.
I imagine with a new perspective we would shed the stress that the system has created and dig deeper into our relationships with each other and the earth in a dance of gratitude and joy. Maybe we’ll make our gifts or at least shop consciously. Maybe we’ll invite someone new to share a meal with us.
I invite you to dream a new dream for your holidays and the new year this season and to share in the comments your traditions that share in the spirit of the honorable harvest. I want the last weeks of this decade to be filled with joy and peace, without stress or worry entering your space.
We’ll leave behind the things that no longer serve us.. preparing our minds, bodies and spirits to dance into 2020, with all the tools to restore balance to ourselves, the earth and all beings.
I love you family. I’m so grateful for all the gifts that flow in and through me.
Sarah
1. Tunkasila, pilamayaye, pilamayaye, pilamaya yelo hi,
2. Cannupa wan mayak'u ca, pilamaya yelo, hi
3. Tunkasila, pilamayaye, pilamayaye, pilamaya yelo hi,
4. Wicosani wan mayak'u ca, pilamaya yelo hi
1. Grandfather, thank you, thank you, thank you
2. A pipe you have given me so, thank you.
3. Grandfather, thank you, thank you, thank you
4. You have given me good health, thank you.
Shams of Tabriz’s 40 Rules of Love
