we journey in peace today to the friendship bell overlooking the pacific ocean… this bell was given by the people of Korea to the people of the United States in the hope that friendship between the nations would endure as would their faith in freedom and interdependence…
today’s peace retreat has me re-membering that
a thousand years ago, the Great Peacemaker came across the Great Lake Onondaga, now known as Ontario, in a stone canoe to the warring six-nation confederacy of the Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois… gradually his words and actions won the people over, they accepted the Great Law of Peace and they buried their weapons under the Peace Tree by Lake Onondaga and formed councils for making wise choices together… in the Haudenosaunee, historians recognize the oldest known participatory democracy, one that inspired the founders in crafting the Constitution of the United States. …
let us be in this moment peacemakers of the earth mother following the teachings of the Great Peacemaker just as still do the Onondaga Nation, whose name means Keepers of the Central Fire, always beginning with prayers of thanksgiving…
THE PEOPLE
Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue. We have been given the duty to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things. So now, we give greetings and thanks to each other as people.
Now our minds are one.
THE EARTH MOTHER
We are all thankful to our mother, the Earth, for she gives us all that we need for life. She supports our feet as we walk about upon her. It gives us joy that she continues to care for us as she has from the beginning of time. To our mother, we send greetings and thanks.
Now our minds are one.
THE ENLIGHTENED TEACHERS
We gather our minds to greet and thank the enlightened teachers who have come to help throughout the ages. When we forget how to live in harmony, they remind us of the way we were instructed to live as people. We send greetings and thanks to these caring teachers.
Now our minds are one.
THE CREATOR
Now we turn our thoughts to the creator, or great spirit, and send greetings and thanks for all the gifts of creation. Everything we need to live a good life is here on this Mother Earth. For all the love that is still around us, we gather our minds together as one and send our choicest words of greetings and thanks to the creator.
Now our minds are one.
CLOSING WORDS
We have now arrived at the place where we end our words. of all the things we have named, it was not our intention to leave anything out. If something was forgotten, we leave it to each individual to send such greetings and thanks in their own way.
Now our minds are one.
~
thanks be…
