Reviving Our Indigenous Souls

My barn having burned down, I can now see the moon. –Mizuta Masahide I remember many years ago seeing a bumper sticker that said, “If you can read this, thank a teacher.” The spirit of this directive has infinite expressions, but they all emanate from this one: If you were born, say, “thank you.” If you’ve been given life, an incarnation onto Earth, then you’ve been graced. Everything granted to us after that is icing on the cake. Each of us is born indebted, so may our every breath and every step be gratitude-soaked. Let “thank you” be our constant mantra. “Thank” comes from the PIE root *tong- (“to think, feel”), indicating that thanking is primarily an embodiment, and subsequently a verbal expression. To think and feel thanks is to be grateful. “Grateful” and “grace” both come from the PIE root *gwere-, which means, “to favor.” Our indigenous souls are keenly aware of the favor that was shown upon us by the Holies and the Ancestors, who worked together diligently to bring us here. To be born in grace is to be intended, not random or accidental. It means there is a purpose for each of us; a place where we belong; and a people with whom we share our indebtedness. This is our original blessing, and so let all God’s children say, “Thank you.” Lest we start feeling guilty for the lives and blessings we’ve been given without asking or earning them, gratitude is the better way. Gratitude is the antidote to sulking in a self-inflicted state of unworthiness. It is how we are called to respond, in ways that benefit all. Gratitude as a lifestyle is a way of paying forward the love that made our lives possible. Sooner and later, both givers and receivers of thanks are transformed. The more that gratitude is paid forward, the sooner it comes back to the original payer. Ultimately, gratitude enlightens us to the Universal Law of Oneness, as Hereditary Chief, Phil Lane Jr. explains: When we strive to make our lives, every thought, word and action, a living Wopida [Dakota word for gratitude], we are given a great spiritual gift. For whenever our soul and the inmost chambers of our heart are filled with thanksgiving and gratitude it also naturally becomes filled with compassion, love, understanding, forgiveness, joy, happiness and oneness. When our lives are centered in this State of Consciousness, there is no room left for the experience of fear, hate, prejudice, revenge, jealously, loneliness and disunity. There is no room for anything that separates ourselves and our oneness with our Beloved Creator, our Human Family and all Life, seen and unseen. Thinking, feeling, and embodying gratitude allows us to see the world as a non-threatening place, if not a friendly one. Thus, it allows us to embrace the difficult times as well as the joyful ones. To live in a constant state of gratitude is to be able to enjoy the moon as it bears witness to the smoldering remains of the burned-down barn. Faena Aleph, “Wopida: A Dakota Ceremony of Universal Gratitude,” Faena Aleph, January 24, 2017, http://www.faena.com/aleph/articles/wopida-a-dakota-ceremony-of-universal-gratitude/.