Guard your descendents from inheriting [wounds + unawareness]

Inspirations to Focus and
Comfort You Along the Way
p. 6 of 10

Collected by Peter K. Gerlach, MSW

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The Web address of this article is https://sfhelp.org/gwc/help/friendship_letter.htm


 
Symptoms of Inner Peace

        Be on the lookout for symptoms of Inner peace. The hearts of a great many have already been exposed to Inner peace, and it Is possible that people everywhere could come down with it in epidemic proportions. This could pose a serious threat to what has, up to now, been a fairly stable condition of conflict in the world

        Some signs and symptoms of Inner peace:

  • A tendency to think and act spontaneously, rather than on fears based on past experiences.

  • An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.

  • A loss of interest in judging other people.

  • A loss of Interest in interpreting the actions of others.

  • A loss of interest in conflict.

  • A loss of the ability to worry. (This is a very serious symptom.)

  • Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.

  • Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.

  • An Increasing tendency to let things happen
    rather than make them happen.

  • An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others, as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.

 <<  WARNING !  >>

        If you have some or all of the above symptoms - please be advised that your condition of Inner peace may be so far advanced as to not be curable. If you are exposed to anyone exhibiting any of these symptoms, remain exposed only at your own risk.

- Saskia Davis




"Know who you are, and then adorn yourself appropriately."

Epictetus, The Discourses

  ON FRIENDSHIP

Friendship is - the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person

Having neither to weigh or measure words,

but pouring all right out just as they are - chaff and grain together ~

certain that a faithful friendly hand will take and sift them,

keep what is worth keeping, and ...

with a breath of comfort, blow the rest away.

- George Eliot

I withdrew to a higher vantage point to start anew...

the anger has passed, now only remains a calm.

Confusion replaced with conviction that transformations are made...

...pain with memories

...fear with understanding

...loneliness with vision

old joys with new beginnings

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LETTER FROM CHIEF SEATHL (SEATTLE)
to US PRESIDENT FRANKLIN PIERCE - 1854

    The great Chief in Washington sends word that he wants to buy our land. The Great Chief also sends us words of friendship and good will. This is kind of him, since we know that he has little need of our friendship in return. But we will consider your offer. For we know that if we do not sell, the white man may come with guns and take our land.

    How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water how can you buy them?

    Every part of the earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries memories of the red man. So when the Great Chief in Washington sends word he wishes to buy our land, he asks much of us.

    Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of earth. Man did not weave the web of life. He is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. But we will consider your offer to go to the reservation you have for my people. We will live apart, and in peace.

    It matters little where we spend the rest of our days. Our children have seen their fathers humbled in defeat. Our warriors have felt shame, and after defeat they turn their days in idleness and contaminate their bodies with sweet foods and strong drinks. It matters little where we spend the rest of our days. They are not many.

    A few hours, a few more winters, and none of the great tribes that once lived on this earth or that roam now in small bands in the woods will be left to mourn the graves of a people once as powerful and hopeful as yours.

    But why should I mourn the passing of my people? Tribes are made of men, nothing more. Men come and go, like waves of the sea. Even the white man, whose God walks and talks with him as friend to friend, cannot be exempt from the common destiny.

    One thing we know, which the white man may one day discover - our God is the same God. You may think now that you own Him as you wish to own our land: but you cannot. He is the God of man; and his compassion is the same for the red man and the white.

    The earth is precious to Him, and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its Creator. The whites too, shall pass; perhaps sooner than all the other tribes. Continue to contaminate your bed and you will one night suffocate in your own waste.

    But in perishing, you will shine brightly, fired by the strength of the God who brought you to this land and for some special purpose gave you dominion over this land and over the red man. That destiny is a mystery to us, for we do not understand when the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses are tamed, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by the talking wires. Where is the eagle? Gone. And what is it to say goodbye to the swift pony and the hunt? The end of living and the beginning of survival. So we will consider your offer to buy our land.

    If we agree, it will be to secure the reservation you have promised. There, perhaps, we may live out our brief days as we wish. When the last red man has vanished from this earth, and his memory is only a shadow of a cloud moving across the prairie, these shores and forests will still hold the spirits of my people. For they love this earth as a newborn loves its mother's heartbeat. 

    So if we sell our land, love it as we have loved it. Hold in your mind the memory of the land as it is when you take it. And love it with all your strength, with all your mind, with all your heart, preserve it for your children, and love it ...as God loves us all. One thing we know. Our God is the same God. This earth is precious to Him. Even the white man cannot be exempt from the common destiny. We may be brothers after all. We shall see...

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Updated  April 30, 2013