Current Events - Democratic Underground

H2O Man

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Sun May-30-10 12:38 PM
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Current Events

{1} Water Thanks

The drop of water
hangs from the faucet
pulsing, the heart
of the well still beating

I never drink water
Harold Elm told me
even from the sink
without saying
a prayer of thanks

the drop of water
trembles, holding
the face of all the worlds.
--Joseph Bruchac

Yesterday, my younger daughter and her friend assisted me in moving two turtles off of local highways. In the photo above, she is pictured with the first, a medium-sized snapping turtle, which did not respond with absolute delight to our attempts to get it across and off the road, as more than a dozen vehicles sped by. The second one, a wood turtle, was far more friendly.

My daughters and their friends who are staying here for the long weekend spent most of the day and evening at a local festival that features the world's longest canoe race. The event is named after one of the Revolutionary War generals who participated in the Clinton-Sullivan Campaign, which sought to destroy the Iroquois Confederacy. When I was a small boy, a neighborhood Elder told me about how the soldiers went through the gardens here, where women had hidden infants, and made a sport of running bayonets through them, holding them up to see how long they would wiggle. Ten years ago, I found that a Pennsylvania historical society had journals documenting this.

These may not be the best examples, but to me they seem to symbolize two very different mind-sets, similar to or representative of the extreme differences in values that separate groups of Americans today. This is what I think, after watching more news about the oil “spill” and hearing the rantings of the Tea Party from the radical right-wing of the republican party. I'm glad to be able to go out to the pond and think about these things. There, I can remember more of the lessons that I learned many years ago from Chief Paul Waterman. Today, I want to share some with you.

{2}Live Now

“Live. Don't be afraid to live. We can get through this time.

“I did reburials at the Penn Site. Germ warfare killed them. At the Bloody Hill Site, it was small pox. Some of the burials were of parents and their children. They were holding hands. This seems to happen when germ warfare kills families.

“But we are here today. It's our turn to live now. And if you are reading this, it's your turn as well. Make the most of it. Enjoy your family.”

--Onondaga Chief Paul Waterman; March, 2002.

In ancient times – the days of human kind's ancestors' ancestors – there was a young man, perhaps in his late teens, who was known as Sapling. My impression is that he lived about 2,000 bc, in an era that the archeologists call the “late archaic” in the northeast. It was the time when what archeologists call the Brewerton and Lamoka cultures were here. They would eventually become what we know as the Iroquois and Algonquin peoples. I think that the first clan, the Turtle Clan, came about from Sapling's lessons about the thirteen moons on a turtle's back. These moons, or lunar months, mark the seasons and associated festivals.

In the ancient festival ceremonies, two important things take place. First, one is thankful for what there is, even down to those drops of clean water. Second, rather than the western concept of mankind being in charge of all life on earth, one appreciates that all of the natural world is our university. We should recognize our part in the larger network of life, and learn from rocks, water, soil, plants, and animals.

When groups of people exercise these types of things, society has the potential to prosper as part of a healthy environment. When groups of people are unable to, because their minds are sick from fear and greed, society breaks down and produces individuals who would wear tea bags on their hats, and participate in modern Clinton-Sullivan campaigns, which result in Cheney-type policies that destroy the living environment.

{3} Current Events

“It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope; and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
--Senator Robert F. Kennedy

One of the things that I like about the Democratic Underground is the variety of thought that can be found here. Now, of course, there are days and weeks when it can get a bit hectic here, and there have been a few periods that weren't exactly pleasant. But it tends to cycle.

Right about now might be a good time for liberals and progressives to cycle back into a higher gear in terms of social-political activity. Watch a little less television, and invest more time in more meaningful activity. There are numberless options, as many as there are participants on this forum. My own focus at this time will be working with local/regional environmental groups. While I recognize the value of many of the very large environmental organizations, I favor efforts to form a coalition – or confederacy, if you will – of grass roots level groups.

It's time to renew our efforts.

Thanks,
H2O Man