The Native Americans have a saying that they use in their prayers of gratitude and petition for peace, health, and happiness:
"All my relations."
The phrase "all my relations" refers not just to the humans in a person's life, but every living thing on the earth. Every animal from a tiny insect to a huge mammal, every growing thing from a blade of grass to every tree and plant, and every ounce of water from a trickle to the oceans - all of them are our sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers, grandfathers and grandmothers. Each and every one of them is a living, breathing, creation and support us in our own lives. Is it any wonder that we should ask for blessings for their peace and existence as to ask for blessings for our own?
If you think about it, without the things that nature has created, we would not have survived as a species. Nature provided first man and first woman with materials to build a shelter, clothe themselves, feed themselves, and protect themselves. Thousands of years later, even if you take away all of the technology and creature comforts we have come to depend on, nature would still be able to provide for us the same way she did in the beginning. You won't find any more devoted, committed, and supportive mother love anywhere in the world of humans.
So this Thanksgiving as I give thanks for my food, my family, my health, and my home, I also ask for blessings for dear Mother Nature and for the strength and gratitude of her children to continue the fight to keep her clean, keep her healthy, and keep her strong. Truly, without her, and without all my relations, we would not be here at all. It's something to think about as we sit down to our turkey and football this week.
And so it is.
