On Thanksgiving morning I hiked through Plaza Blanca with a despacho, two dogs and a drum. I once followed a trail of trickling water through precipitous passages in this mystical landscape. With no map for guidance, the trust and support of another was all there was to rely on to traverse the unknown, rugged terrain.
Our uncharted trek led to an impasse from which water fell between white and black mountains, a sacred union of all that is dark and all that is light. I vowed to return for ceremony to this sacred womb of Mother Earth.
As I carried my despacho full of prayers, with two of my favorite hiking companions at my side, my mind could not escape the corruption of the holiday.
We stand at the precipice of a critical planetary evolution and the First Americans are under siege at Standing Rock for protecting our water. Decisions made now will have a devastating impact on our climate, our Earth and her resources leaving a shameful legacy of destruction for future generations to come.
The First Americans are teaching us how to be in right relationship with our Mother, the Earth. The First Americans are showing us how to walk in prayer. The First Americans are personifying the way of peace. The First Americans are living and breathing what it means to Love.
The way of Love is extremely courageous. Love must stand and face life not as we want it to be but as it is. Love requires us to hold a position with honor and respect. Love does not allow us to select who to love and who not to love. Love encompasses all.
As I hike through Plaza Blanca, a sacred land owned by Muslims, I carry prayers in a despacho from a Peruvian tradition in the Andes. I beat a drum and sing chants to our Earth Mother.
I have walked many paths and traditions in my life, a freedom granted by the very foundation of what it is to be American yet we are turning those freedoms against the First Americans with rubber bullets, water cannons, tear gas and pepper spray.
And still they stand.
Our country is clinging to an old paradigm of patriarchal power that believes it has dominion over our Earth and others.
We have been gifted a planet of great beauty with everything we need to not only survive but thrive. Who are the caretakers and stewards of the land upon which we live?
It is us.
It is you.
It is me.
We can be overwhelmed thinking we cannot change the world so we give up hope.
But we can change ourself and this is where we have influence.
The First Americans are showing us the way.
And the way is Love.
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