I am re-reading Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer; which I suspect will become a timeless classic. It is filled with profound wisdom that would appear inconceivable to most people today. She shares in the book the “Honorable Harvest,” the respectful and appropriate means by which indigenous peoples used the gifts that Earth had provided for them. She says that through “practical reverence” we can become responsible stewards of non-human species. By enacting reciprocity through giving back, by never taking more than half, by taking only what is given, and by remembering to say “thank you,” we ensure our continuous supply.
There no longer seems to be a moral compass guiding our actions. The motivation of most people is deep desire, want, and longing; and a false belief that they never have quite enough. We live in a lavish, abundant universe; but because rarely do we respect, appreciate, share, or give thanks for what we have, that abundance is elusive to many. We often take more than we need. We even take that which is not given. We cling to and hoard what we believe to be ours alone, out of fear of not having enough. We waste profusely and treat what we have disrespectfully. The momentary happiness from having acquired some coveted thing, soon disappears. What remains is an unquenchable desire for still more. Any joy that was believed to have been found in the acquisition of something, cannot be found, because joy wells up spontaneously from within whenever we are giving rather than taking.
Is this not the key to a happy life? It is in the giving away that we gain the most. The more we give, the more we have. The less we give, the less we have. If we begin each day in gratitude, expectant and knowing that our needs will be sufficiently provided for, we open ourselves to miracles, both small and large. If we begin each day asking ourselves how we might give back to life rather than asking what we might get from it, we allow for unbidden joy to surface. This is reverence, practical, sacred, sustainable.
