Guest Author - Deborah Adams

For many people Thanksgiving is coming up.. For Native American's Thanksgiving is everyday. Part of the teaching includes learning to appreciate the gifts given to us and to give back in return. I love the way this is expressed by our friend Acadian Wolf Native American StoryTeller.

This story is posted with permission from Native American StoryTeller - Acadian Wolf. Many thanks to you! We are grateful to learn from you.

Mother Earth teaches us to be human

Mother Earth teaches us to be human. She brings love to life and
shares her gifts with us. In return for the gifts of our Mother, it
is our responsibility as humans to care for all living beings living
upon her.

The rock carries the wisdom of the ages and is known as the oldest
teacher and is called, "Grandfather". From the rock we learn inner
strength and faith. The rock is slow to move yet when the rock moves,
the whole world pays attention.

The tree teaches us about honesty for the tree is able to move the
nutrients from the roots to its uppermost branches. The sap moves
through the tree just as we must learn to allow truth to move through
us. For each human there is a tree that is just like you. If you are
acting as though you carry the whole world upon your shoulders, you
will see a tree that is bowed down. Some trees appear to be tall,
straight and beautiful, yet that same tree may be rotten on the
inside. Some people are like that. Crooked people will see crooked
trees, just like them. We must strive to be tall, straight and honest
and grounded with a good root system and to know that just as each
tree is an individual and a member of a family, so are we.

Although it gets walked on, grass, keeps coming back. As humans we do
that to one another, yet even when we get "walked upon" we must show
kindness to ourselves and others and keep coming back. We also
nurture, fertilize and care for the grass just as we must care for
one another.. A blade of grass has two sides to it just as we, as
humans have a smooth side and a rough side. We must recognize this
and be kind to ourselves in order to smooth out the rough edges.

The animals give us the greatest gift of all and that is the lesson
of sharing. They give up their lives so that we can live. In the old
days, our ancestors would offer a prayer to the Creator and ask for
an animal to feed the people. When a hunter connected with an animal,
that was an indication the animal was ready to die. After the hunter
killed the animal, it's heart was divided among the hunters and a
piece of the heart was offered back to Mother Earth with a prayer of
thanks.

As humans we need to learn to share with one another and give thanks
for the gifts of life shared with us.

The four teachings of faith, honesty, caring and sharing which come
with the rock, the tree, the grasses and the animals keep us
connected with our Mother Earth.