2009 05 31

Brothers and Sisters,

           The Northwest Indians lived in the land of abundance. The Salmon leaped into the pan, sans lemon, but filleted upon a cedar plank, rich in good cholesterol, often served with a Black, Blue, Boysen, Goose , Marion,  Straw or Rasp berry sauce.  The Elk often came into the lodges and offered themselves up like the genetically engineered cows at The Restaurant at the End of the Universe to feast upon. This was a time and a people who had such abundance that when they partied they gave away all there material possessions. This was not potluck, this was a conscious choice of giving all they had, the best and all the rest to all and everyone. It was called Potlach.

           These people so loved and appreciated each other they often had no word for you, it was always we, us, and ours.

           There was no word for yesterday or tomorrow.

           No one spoke of another, les that person was present, & when someone died they were not spoken of again.

           They were present time only, appreciative of each moment & giving everything to now.

           They told stories of adventures, of those miracles that happened on the edge of their way of being. Stories to inspire, and revere the moment. 

           They appreciated the ease of how the cedar tree gave planks for shelter.

           They appreciated the soft feel & fragrant smell of pine & cedar needles as floors & beds.

           They honored gods of the clear rivers, and were cleansed in the many waterfalls.

           The things they labeled with names were words and phrases that sung with appreciation.

           We cannot venture back to that time with anything but our imagination. The salmon are at restaurants, most elk have stopped the customs of volunteering for dinner, but these people’s theme of appreciation is one of the tenets of The Church of Attention.

           Out times are rich in choices and often challenging to see and feel Appreciation, but given a moment our imagination can free our attention of judgments and evaluations and become curious as to how, and what, and where and when and even why our Attention wanders into judgment, and with a new viewpoint, a vanishing point or point of origin, we can see and feel the appreciation of everything.

Nothing changes in the world only our view of how when where what and why we are blessed with life. Thank you for this moment.

Share and enjoy.

Namaste

Gary