Wakan Tanka, The Great Mystery

 

Gratitude

 

The Lakota are accustomed to giving thanks for the things they receive. Nothing is taken for granted. Thanks is given for food and drink, the warmth of the sun, close friends and relatives and life. When the Lakota pray and give thanks, they make prayerties. These ties are made by folding a piece of tobacco into a small, square piece of cotton and tying it sealed with a cord. Eventually the prayer ties are burned as a sacrifice. Tobacco used to be something very valuable. Long treks had to be made in order to find a small amount of tobacco. The use of prayer ties was both a prayer for things needed and an offering of thanks for things received. These days tobacco is readily available in stores, and so its value has diminished. In spite of this prayer ties are still made as a reminder of all the things we can be grateful for. Ask yourself what you can be grateful for in your life. Reflect for a minute on the great gift called water, which flows freely from the faucet here, a thing prayed for by many people around the world. This is a good moment to reflect on all the gifts you have received.

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Day 445  Cyclus 64

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