Today is Thanksgiving Day here in the US. I love having a holiday that is dedicated to gratitude…to giving thanks for all of the blessings of our lives. I try to remember to practice gratitude as a way of walking and being in the world in my daily life…and yet, it’s also wonderful to pause for an entire day to give thanks.
There is a beautiful saying and prayer that comes from the language and tradition of the Lakota People: Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ. It translates as All Are Related, or All My Relations. It’s a wonderful reminder of our interconnectedness here on Mother Earth, and of the spirit within all beings.
Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ
Aho Mitakuye Oyasin… All my relations. I honor you in this circle of life with me today. I am grateful for this opportunity to acknowledge you in this prayer…
To the Creator, for the ultimate gift of life, I thank you.
To the mineral nation that has built and maintained my bones and all foundations of life experience, I thank you.
To the plant nation that sustains my organs and body and gives me healing herbs for sickness, I thank you.
To the animal nation that feeds me from your own flesh and offers your loyal companionship in this walk of life, I thank you.
To the human nation that shares my path as a soul upon the sacred wheel of Earthly life, I thank you.
To the Spirit nation that guides me invisibly through the ups and downs of life and for carrying the torch of light through the Ages. I thank you.
To the Four Winds of Change and Growth, I thank you.
You are all my relations, my relatives, without whom I would not live. We are in the circle of life together, co-existing, co-dependent, co-creating our destiny. One, not more important than the other. One nation evolving from the other and yet each dependent upon the one above and the one below. All of us a part of the Great Mystery.
Thank you for this Life.
From my home to yours, wherever you live, my wish for you and for all of us is that we can walk each day with gratitude, honoring all beings in the circle of life.
