Antidote to antipathy

 Today's posting has no relationship whatsoever with the fact that today is Primary Election Day in Minnesota. It also has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that way too many of our politicians, and those who vote for them, have an extremely short timeframe through which they view their votes. In fact, it seems to us that many of them have a perspective that makes day traders look like they  have a long term view. Now that we have that out of the way...

did you vote?

Photo by J. Harrington

The Center for Humans and Nature has published a series of essays responding to the question: What kind of ancestor do you want to be? I've not yet read all the essays, but I have begun to think about what I see as a glaring distinction between contemporary time frames and the Seventh Generation philosophy as envisioned by the Haudenosaunee:

"The Peacemaker taught us about the Seven Generations. He said, when you sit in council for the welfare of the people, you must not think of yourself or of your family, not even of your generation. He said, make your decisions on behalf of the seven generations coming, so that they may enjoy what you have today."

Oren Lyons (Seneca)
Faithkeeper, Onondaga Nation

If we assume that each generation covers a time span of about twenty-five years, seven generations equals about 175 years. In a world that appears to be changing as rapidly as ours, making a decision that's that forward-looking is a real challenge, especially for a society that seems to have forgotten how to take into consideration the next generation as it decides who to choose as its leaders. As reminders, not for today, but for the general election on November 3, eighty-four days from now, please make a Spotify, or Apple Play or whatever playlist of these songs and think about whether the characteristics of those for whom you are voting will help protect the audience intended for the songs.

• The Unicorn - The Irish Rovers
• Forever Young - Bob Dylan
• The Circle Game - Tom Rush
• Puff the Magic Dragon - Peter, Paul and Mary
• Cat's in the Cradle - Harry Chapin 
• The Marvelous Toy - Tom Paxton

There's a few more that could be added here but half-a-dozen should be enough to get the basic message across. We can't very well decide, it seems to me, what kind of ancestor we want to be without seriously thinking about for whom we will be ancestors. What songs would you add to the list for your descendants? Share the titles in the comments and maybe they'll show up in an updated version of this post sometime before November 3.

Remember

Joy Harjo - 1951-

Remember the sky that you were born under,
know each of the star's stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is.
Remember the sun's birth at dawn, that is the
strongest point of time. Remember sundown
and the giving away to night.
Remember your birth, how your mother struggled
to give you form and breath. You are evidence of
her life, and her mother's, and hers.
Remember your father. He is your life, also.
Remember the earth whose skin you are:
red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth
brown earth, we are earth.
Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their
tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,
listen to them. They are alive poems.
Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the
origin of this universe.
Remember you are all people and all people
are you.
Remember you are this universe and this
universe is you.
Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you.
Remember language comes from this.
Remember the dance language is, that life is.
Remember.

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