{"id":8550,"date":"2025-04-18T07:53:58","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T14:53:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=8550"},"modified":"2025-04-18T08:11:08","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T15:11:08","slug":"chinook-teach-us-and-show-us-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/18\/chinook-teach-us-and-show-us-the-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinook – Teach us, and show us the Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

Teach us, and show us the Way
\nby Chinook (Anonymous)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

We call upon the earth, our planet home, with its beautiful depths and soaring
\nheights, its vitality and abundance of life, and together we ask that it<\/p>\n

Teach us, and show us the Way.<\/p>\n

We call upon the mountains, the Cascades and the Olympics, the high green
\nvalleys and meadows filled with wild flowers, the snows that never melt, the
\nsummits of intense silence, and we ask that they<\/p>\n

Teach us, and show us the Way.<\/p>\n

We call upon the waters that rim the earth, horizon to horizon, that flow in our
\nrivers and streams, that fall upon our gardens and fields and we ask that they<\/p>\n

Teach us, and show us the Way.<\/p>\n

We call upon the land which grows our food, the nurturing soil, the fertile fields,
\nthe abundant gardens and orchards, and we ask that they<\/p>\n

Teach us, and show us the Way.<\/p>\n

We call upon the forests, the great trees reaching strongly to the sky with earth in
\ntheir roots and the heavens in their branches, the fir and the pine and the
\ncedar, and we ask them to<\/p>\n

Teach us, and show us the Way.<\/p>\n

We call upon the creatures of the fields and forests and the seas, our brothers and
\nsisters the wolves and deer, the eagle and dove, the great whales and the dolphin,
\nthe beautiful Orca and salmon who share our Northwest home, and we ask them to<\/p>\n

Teach us, and show us the Way.<\/p>\n

We call upon all those who have lived on this earth, our ancestors and our friends,
\nwho dreamed the best for future generations, and upon whose lives our lives are
\nbuilt, and with thanksgiving, we call upon them to<\/p>\n

Teach us, and show us the Way.<\/p>\n

And lastly, we call upon all that we hold most sacred, the presence and power of
\nthe Great Spirit of love and truth which flows through all the Universe, to be with
\nus to<\/p>\n

Teach us, and show us the Way.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from The Essential Mystics: Selections from the World\u2019s Great Wisdom Traditions<\/a>, Edited by Andrew Harvey<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by Oppo Find x5 Pro<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

I have been engaged in quite an act of rebellion lately: I have been gardening.<\/p>\n

Just a small garden, a few vegetables and flowers. <\/p>\n

And I\u2019ll be honest, gardening doesn\u2019t come naturally to me. I was raised in small apartments by a single mother who was often at work. Gardening wasn\u2019t an activity handed down to me. I tend to be more of a person of fire and air than of earth. So rolling up my sleeves and digging in the dirt is not always my first instinct in the springtime.<\/p>\n

But the gardeners among you know what I am still learning, that the earth speaks to us through the garden. It becomes a conversation. I speak to the weeds as I pull them, thanking them for the green impulse they brought and apologizing for their removal. Words of welcome and gentle encouragement to the strawberries and marigolds as I pat them into place and pour water around them.<\/p>\n

Earth and water. Air and sun. And growing green life. These bring the soul back to rest. <\/p>\n

While gardening is often a solitary, meditative act, I am surprised by how often it brings me back into connection with my community. As an inexperienced gardener, I bring my questions to the woman across the street whose yard is filled with tulips and daffodils and green sprouts waiting to reveal themselves. And we are talking about life. The rhythms of the year and the movements of the clouds.<\/p>\n

Later in the year, I hope to have a few extra butternut squash, Perhaps my wife and I can share them with our neighbor (as I know she will come by with more than one box of potatoes and tomatoes for us). Or maybe I will bring something from my garden over to my cousin\u2019s house. Next year, if I plan early enough for a larger garden, perhaps I will have extra to bring to one of the local homeless shelters.<\/p>\n

Who knew that putting your knees on the ground and digging your fingers into the soil could reconnect us with the world? It brings us back into the rhythms of life and community. It returns us to ourselves. <\/p>\n

Some might say that is a dangerous thing.<\/p>\n

Others would say, community, the earth, life, these speak to us. They remind us of important truths. Let\u2019s listen. Let us ask them to teach us, and show us the Way.<\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Chinook (Anonymous)<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The Essential Mystics: Selections from the World\u2019s Great Wisdom Traditions<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n
\n<\/td>\n\nChinook (Anonymous)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

US (18th Century) Timeline<\/a>
\nPrimal\/Tribal\/Shamanic<\/a> : American Indian<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Dating this prayer poem to the 18th century is a guess. The source book did not suggest a date.<\/p>\n

More poetry by Chinook (Anonymous)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Teach us, and show us the Way by Chinook (Anonymous) We call upon the earth, our planet home, with its beautiful depths and soaring heights, its vitality and abundance of life, and together we ask that it Teach us, and show us the Way. We call upon the mountains, the Cascades and the Olympics, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[102,3],"tags":[725,1024,2586,817,1192],"class_list":["post-8550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ivans-story","category-poetry","tag-earth","tag-garden","tag-gardening","tag-nature","tag-paradise"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8550"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8555,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8550\/revisions\/8555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}