From The Innkeepers

December 2023 Blog- What the Earth Asks of Us

Several weeks ago, Pat and I had the privilege of attending a lecture by Robin Wall Kimmerer at Grand Valley State University. Dr. Kimmerer is perhaps most well known for her book, “Braiding Sweetgrass”. This book is about the weaving of indigenous wisdom, story, and spirituality with scientific knowledge. In this month’s blog, I would like to share with you some of her thoughts. You may find them to be in contrast to the prevailing cultural and economic view in our country. For while our economy often asks: “What more can we take from the earth?”, what we should be seeking to discover is: “What is it that the earth asks of us?”. Instead of asking if the earth is our source of belongings, we should be asking: “How is the earth our source of belonging?”

One way which is a keystone to the earth being our source of belonging, is to see the land as our identity. The land is who we are, it is our sustainer. Because of that we have to be accountable for its future. The land is our moral responsibility. The land is our connection to the ancestors who came before us. Dr. Kimmerer maintains that it is our responsibility to reclaim our sacred relationship with the land and that it is incumbent upon us to seek out a beautiful, coherent and respectful way to live in the world. It is only by the grace of creation that we are here. Therefore, we should be grateful not only for all that the earth gives us, but we should live in such a way that the earth in turn would be grateful for us.

On a practical level she spoke about how to make ourselves worthy of the gifts of the earth. The “Honorable Harvest” in the Native American tradition is to give something back for everything that I’ve taken from the land. It may be something as simple as paying attention to the packaging of the things we purchase, or to reuse and recycle. She asked us to not give in to the disease of convenience, for often those things that may help us save time, could be costing us our lives.

In summing up the answer to her original question of what the earth is asking of us at this time, Dr. Kimmerer said that it came down to these two things: gratitude and reciprocity. The earth is asking us to know what our gifts are, be grateful for them, and learn how to give them to the world. She smiled then, and said simply put it is to do these three things:
-Raise a garden
-Raise good children
-Raise a raucous

In thinking about the upcoming holiday season, perhaps you could put the earth on your gift list this year. Give her the gratitude she deserves. Give back to her something for everything you’ve taken. Promise to plant something this spring.

Wishing you and your loved ones the blessings of the season.
Marcia, Pat, Sharon, and Ryan
Keepers of the Rustic Gate