October 7th
FIVE MINUTES ON FRIDAY #44

THANKSGIVING

This weekend we celebrate Thanksgiving.  American farmer and poet, Wendell Berry writes: ‘Sabbath [Thanksgiving] observance invites us to stop.  It invites us to rest.  It asks us to notice that while we rest, the world continues without our help.  It invites us to delight in the world’s beauty and abundance.’

 

THE HONORABLE HARVEST

Robin Wall Kimmerer writes about the indigenous practice of the Honorable Harvest and practices applicable to our observance of thanksgiving.

Honorable Harvest

‘Know the ways of the ones who take care of you, so that you may take care of them.

Introduce yourself. Be accountable as the one who comes asking for life. 
Ask permission before taking. Abide by the answer.

Never take the first. Never take the last.

Take only what you need.
Take only that which is given.
Never take more than half. Leave some for others.

Harvest in a way that minimizes harm.
Use the harvest respectfully. Never waste what you have taken.

Share.

Give thanks for what you have been given.
Give a gift, in reciprocity for what you have taken.

Sustain the ones who sustain you, and the earth will last forever.’

[Robin Wall Kimmerer in Braiding Sweetgrass]

DO STONES FEEL?

Do stones feel?
Do they love their life?
Or does their patience drown out everything else?

When I walk on the beach I gather a few
white ones, dark ones, the multiple colors.
Don’t worry, I say, I’ll bring you back, and I do.

Is the tree as it rises delighted with its many branches,
each one like a poem?

Are the clouds glad to unburden their bundles of rain?                                           

Most of the world says no, no, it’s not possible.

I refuse to think to such a conclusion.
Too terrible it would be, to be wrong.”
            [Mary Oliver]

 

SUNDAY

Scripture: Leviticus 25.1-12; Psalm 24.1; Luke 4.16-21

This Sunday we will hear stories of thanksgiving in connection with earth care.  We will also reflect on the Biblical teaching of Jubilee:

JUBILEE:

  • A right to freedom and land.
  • An extension of the Sabbath day.
  • Love and mercy toward one’s neighbour.
  • Release and blessing of the Lord’s favour.

In the person of Jesus, the Jubilee/Kingdom is announced and embodied. 

Suggestions:

Some suggestions from Common Prayer for becoming the answer to our prayers.

1      Bake cookies or bread and give them away to the person who delivers your mail or provides some other service for you.  In a condo or apartment you could share with the weekly cleaning crew.

2      As you go for a walk or bike ride, consider the lilies, the trees, the sparrows.

3      Hold a knowledge exchange, in which you gather friends or neighbours to share a skill or something they are learning.

[Common Prayer, p. 539]

https://youtu.be/Lw5THSwmR_g   A Clare Benediction