Today is World Food Day, which is a welcome reminder to be aware of and grateful for the plants and animals that sustain us each day. Unless we grow our own food, we tend to overlook the miraculous ecosystem that provides the roasted chicken and succulent tomatoes sitting on our dinner plate. Unless we have contact with people who are hungry, it is easy to forget that many persons don't have access to the bounty of food we enjoy.
World Food Day happens to
coincide with harvest season in the Northern hemisphere. It is a good time to
contemplate the indigenous teaching of the Honorable Harvest, as described by
Robin Wall Kimmerer in her book Braiding
Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. May this
meditation infuse our prayer today.
Never take the first. Never
take the last.
Harvest in a way that
minimizes harm.
Take only
what you need and leave some for others.
Use
everything that you take.
Take only
that which is given to you.
Share it, as
the Earth has shared with you.
Be
grateful.
Reciprocate
the gift.
Sustain the
ones who sustain you, and the Earth will last forever.
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