“Gratitude is our birthright.  It steadies us to face what is happening to our world.  It grounds us and enables us to face and honor our pain for the world.”  These words of Joanna Macy, an environmental activist, author and scholar, are especially helpful to me as I contemplate the daily news.
 
Gratitude is the starting point for being able to engage with my despair and pain.  These days as I read the news I feel myself overwhelmed with the social unrest, the racism and bigotry, and the enormous climate disruption, as hurricanes and fires run wild.  I find myself angry with our leaders, who I assume are as smart as I am but act as though they don’t understand the dire consequences of their actions -- or inactions.
 
As I face what is happening in our world I understand that this interplay between pain and gratitude are two sides of the whole –the interconnected nature of all life.  My pain springs forth from my humanity, my compassion, and, all that is good within me.  I can use that goodness and that sense of connection to propel me to do what my heart yearns to do – to create a more sustainable and just world -- one step, one day at a time – in spite of all the craziness around me.
 
There are moments when I feel blocked and I can’t figure the next steps – those are the moments that I seek inspiration from others – friends, teachers, the Earth itself.
I am more creative when my mind dances and plays with those of my friends, and what emerges is so much greater than I, or they, could generate alone. 
 
What comes to mind is the African proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.”
 
Yet, I am the kind of person who likes to go fast, and I have to urge myself to slow down.  I am proud when I discover those ways to slow down and connect with our beautiful interconnected web of life – Mother Earth.
 
In this season I am grateful for my garden. I have this huge raspberry patch, planted by the previous owners of this house. Each day I must pick and some days I am busy or tired – but still I must pick or the berries get too soft, or moldy.  So, I have a practice of thanking the plants as I pick.  I express thanks for the delicious berries, for the berry crisps that I make, for the growing bags of frozen berries in my freezer for the winter.  As I talk to my plants the picking is so much more fun!
 
If you are still reading this blog – THANK YOU!  Thank you for hanging in with me, for encouraging me to do this work. Hopefully it will serve us all.  I know that gratitude is a gift that I give myself – and hopefully a gift that you give yourself as well.
 

Not defined by age or gender,
an elder is -- one who carries the knowledge of the tradition and wisdom of the heart,
one who walks in truth and dignity to matter how poor, in humility no matter how revered.
 
An elder serves the people even when his or how own larder is down to the last sack of coffee, even when the body aches with fatigue.  Even where there is nothing left to give, there is always an open door, an open heart. 
 
Some elders heal with knowledge of natural medicine not yet known or recognized by the dominant culture. 
Some heal with spirituality – worlds beyond many of those who don black robes and preach on Sundays. 
Some heal with a song.”
from The Book of Elders; Life Stories of Great American Indians, as told to Sandy Johnson

Ever since I celebrated my 67th birthday in mid-March I am, according to my own reckoning, no longer approaching elderhood but becoming an elder.

Of course, the years are arbitrary and the words might be just semantics - but if I take the time to listen, I can feel the inner awakening that the journey has changed a bit.  
 
The old question of “Who am I?” has resurfaced, now reframed as “What kind of elder will I be?” 
I like this question, and I welcome its timeliness as I wrestle with this question. 

​ Its still early morning, and the air is cool, as we make the left turn into the squatter settlement, across from the bus station in Cuernavaca.  We carefully bump along the dirt road, avoiding some of the bigger rocks and ruts.  We are on our way to the community center, a simple two story building, where 150 kids come each morning for a hot breakfast prepared by a rotating group of mothers who volunteer to shop and prepare the food.  The kids have already run off to school but the women remain, wiping down the plastic tables and chairs, and quickly offering us cups of orange juice.

Erik, our host, begins a conversation with Isabel, who runs the kitchen.  He is inquiring how things are going with the breakfast program.  Part of his job is to discover what the community needs, as he, along with his parents, Betsy and Howard, run Karitas, the foundation which built this kitchen when mothers expressed concern about kids not getting a proper breakfast.
 
After our visit Erik leads us on a walk to the community’s restored well –
​but first he waves and smiles at Rosa, across the way, standing in her doorway. 

We pass small abarottes (grocery stores) and tables with fruit and vegetables for sale.  Most houses are quite simple – some, just concrete blocks, others are painted or adobe.  Although this is a squatter’s settlement it is well established after almost 30 years with approximately 10,000 people living here.  The government regularly offers to move the inhabitants to other, perhaps better homes, on the outskirts of the city – but these folks don’t want to leave.

​Our collective imagination has been captured by the Water Protectors of Standing Rock.  The Native people, joined by their non-Native allies, have come from across this country to camp on the banks of the Cannonball River with the intention of stopping the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).

It’s not an easy place to live.  The environment is harsh, with cold winds and dropping temperatures.  The tension is high as folks feel the urgency to prepare for the coming winter, as they are constantly monitored by drones, small planes and helicopters, and as they are work to discern the next best peaceful, ceremonial actions to stop the “black snake” – the oil pipeline. 

But Standing Rock can also be seen as a place of great hope, energy, and passion.  It is what Joanna Macy might call evidence of The Great Turning – the shift from the industrial growth society to a life sustaining one.
​
It is almost inconceivable that a small band of Native elders could possibly stop a multi-billion dollar pipeline, an essential component of the fossil fuel industry.  Yet, somehow, up to this moment, they have managed to slow down the completion of this project.  

An excerpt from the writings of Clarissa Pinkola Estes, PhD, from 2004…
My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times.
….I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times.

Especially do not lose hope.…The fact is that we were made for these times.   For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement.
I grew up on the Great Lakes and recognize a seaworthy vessel when I see one…there have never been more able vessels in the waters than there are right now across the world. And they are fully provisioned and able to signal one another as never before in the history of humankind.
..In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how much is wrong or unmended in the world. Do not focus on that.  There is a tendency to fall into being weakened by dwelling on what is outside your reach, by what cannot yet be. Do not focus there.

We are needed, that is all we can know. And though we meet resistance, we more so will meet great souls who will hail us, love us and guide us, and we will know them when they appear. 

This is the brand new up-to-date website for Standing Rock Camp 
http://www.ocetisakowincamp.org/  with how to donate and what actions to take. 

• It is beautiful and descriptive website.  
  
• Take the time to learn more about the camp.
• It is especially important to look under "GET INVOLVED" where you will see how you can support the Water Protectors by making phone calls in support of stopping the DAPL.

THANK YOU for caring and acting to insure that we have a thriving and just world for all.

​We were invited to come to the Standing Rock Sioux encampment during the week of Yom Kippur -- the Jewish Day of Atonement.  As Jews we atone for our sins each year and we do so in the plural, holding ourselves responsible for the sins of all.  “We have sinned by…..”
 
Camping in South Dakota in early October is a challenge.  First night it was 28 degrees, the second had gusting winds that threatened to lift the rain tarp off our tent – and this is called “Indian Summer” in South Dakota.  It will be winter soon, with temperatures well below 0 degrees and while a sensible person might flee the oncoming winter, here is a camp of Native and white people preparing to spend the winter on the banks of the Cannonball River.
 
I came to the Standing Rock Sioux encampment to lend my support to the Native people who have been camped here since last April – their last ditch attempt to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline, the DAPL.  We were welcomed by everyone we encountered and thanked for coming to this peaceful camp, where ceremony and prayer are an integral part of daily life – including the non-violent actions that many are engaged in to stop or slow down the building of the pipeline.
 
Why did I not simply go to synagogue for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, as I have done for every year of my life?
 
As a citizen of the United States I share the responsibility for the actions of my government.  I share responsibility for how we have destroyed Native lands and culture, and for our industrialized way of life that contributes to the demands for more fossil fuels, the extraction of more natural resources, and more pollution and degradation of our Earth.

​Two nights camping in South Dakota in early October is a challenge.  First night it was 28 degrees, the second had gusting winds that threatened to lift the rain tarp off our tent – and this is called “Indian Summer” in South Dakota.  It will be winter soon, with temperatures well below 0 degrees.  You would think that folks would be leaving but the reverse is true and they are winterizing this camp on the banks of the Cannonball River.
 
This gathering of Native people began with a small group that challenged the building Dakota Access Pipeline under the Missouri River adjacent to their reservation.  They know, and we all know, that pipelines don’t last forever and there are too many leaks in the existing pipelines that crisscross our nation. 
 
The Standing Rock Sioux encampment is on the front line with people uprooting their daily lives, making this camp their home and risking their lives for what they know to be true – Water is Life. We can’t live without water and we can’t take the risk of poisoning our water.

This past January the last of our five children moved out of the house.  I had been parenting for 35 years, and as much as I love my children I was quite excited about my new life as an empty nester.

It’s been fun!  I love not having to be home or cook dinner.  I buy and eat the food I like, and the refrigerator has lots of empty space.  I go to meetings and movies at night, leave the sink with dirty dishes and don’t feel guilty about setting a bad example. I hardly ever do laundry, clean only half the house, and have much more discretionary money.

But the greatest benefit is that I am appreciating my strengths and I am not as frequently reminded of my shortcomings.  I am again asking “who am I” and what are my passions and my work in the world?  As I find myself teaching more about “becoming elders in the public square” I am also discovering that I am doing that myself – at 66 years of age, I am becoming an elder in the public square.

This is not just about me.  I am meeting other folks who are also “coming out of the closet” as elders, wanting to create a collective legacy of a sustainable world – and together we are creating ripples.

​As an example, just two weeks ago I was at the National Gathering of the Conscious Elders Network – a group of smart, caring folks, who want to create a better world for their grandkids, for all children.  We were discussing issues of social justice when one person suggested that we write a Resolution in support of the Standing Rock Sioux – who are protecting their water from the threat presented by the Dakota Access Pipeline.  We agreed and within a day it written, affirmed – and 75 elders went back to their communities with the awareness that our Native neighbors are courageously standing on the front lines, protecting our water for future generations -- their children and our children.

​We are gentle people-- heartbroken people
Caught in the midst of a seemingly endless violence.
 
Snipers – provocateurs creating violence, fan the flames of fear.
 
This cannot be the way into our future.
I want to take to the streets
Not only to protest fear or to protest violence…
 
But to speak up for peace, compassion, deep listening – and sanity.
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation? (The Hopi Elder)
 
​We are all caught in this senseless web of violence –
that does not reflect our deepest values.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for your leader.