Giving Thanks To God – To the Spirit of The Wampanoag

The local Wampanoag here on the Peninsula of Doom are the same people who sat down with my own ancestors and in thanks joined in brotherly and harmonious action. This legend, story, account, fairy tale – call it whatever you want — in commemoration we look back at the first Thanksgiving feast – a holiday so decreed by Abraham Lincoln.

As you can probably imagine, being a member of a fellowship for alcoholics on a lump of land that has a good population of Wampanoag I might have occasion to run into one of them now and then – and again. Yes, I know a few. Those boys sure can drink! Just ask one. But sober and spiritual Native Americans can tell of a long long practiced concept of spirituality.

By now many of us realize than the headless, farm fattened, salt injected and factorized Tom Turkeys that have never seen so much as a human hand full of Purina Turkey Chow – that we stuff, with bread, onion, and thyme were not really part of the main fare in those days. It just wasn’t on the menu. We are after all talking almost five hundred years ago. What is likely is that instead of carved Perdue turkey breast and starch thickened giblet gravy these folks supped upon local wild eel, clams, oysters, mussels, lobster and venison with squash and boiled pumpkin.

YUMMOH! I can hear Rachel Ray right now.

But no volcanic islands of whipped potato erupting with hot flows of yellow buttered gravy-lava. Cranberry dressing? Nope. No sugar yet. Pumpkin or apple pie? Uh, no. No pie crust or ovens in which to bake them.

So who gives a flying fig? Giving thanks to God is still giving thanks to God and the Wampanoag Indians locally here can tell you a thing or two about giving thanks too. They can also tell of a history, tradition and spiritual connection in true humility, the kind that escapes us so easily.

” It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do . . . . ” (84:1)

You see to these people giving thanks to God is not something to do once a year – or even once in a great while. To Wampanoag, giving thanks to the God is an ongoing spiritual experience that is part of each and every hour of each day. To them the material world around and the spiritual world were interwoven and inseparable. Throughout each day as events unfolded they thanked the spirits.

If the sun shone strongly against the autumn frost to warm the chilled hunter – he took pause to thank the appropriate spirit. If his arrow hit and felled a deer he paused to thank the spirits of . . . oh don’t know . . . . . .the deer hunting spirit I guess. The point is that his thanks was continual throughout the day reminding the grateful to not take egotistical credit for the events unfolding. If the deer was hit – it was the spirits that granted it. If the weather was favorable, it was the spiritual that caused it. If the fire was lit against a cold, damp wind it was with the help and permission of the spirits.

This is very AA, is it not? It embraces daily and genuine gratitude in the practice of Step Ten – in acknowledging our flaws that come about in selfishness, fear, dishonesty and resentment. We have been freed from these in our past which had been blocking us from the Sunlight of the Spirit and each moment in living is a chance to keep the channels clear in the present. In the today.

Learning to daily spot, admit, and correct these flaws which are motives in each thought or act that appears to be wrong, is the essence of character building and good living.

“An honest regret for harms done, a genuine gratitude for blessings received, and a willingness to try to better things tomorrow will be the permanent assets we shall seek.” (12&12)

Today being Thanksgiving, we can call to mind all of the things for which we can be grateful. That would be in a universal, very American tradition of the holiday. But why can’t we also proactive this principle in all our affairs – like the Wampnoag – without whom there would be no such holiday.

Dear God: I want to thank you faletinmebemicelfagain.
.
Peace,

Danny S