NATURE CALLS US TO CONSCIOUSNESS:
A Day of Deep Listening and Reflection
Friday, August 16, 2019
Structured in conjunction with the 2019 KATERI Peace Conference’s focus on the Climate Crisis.
Annually, the KATERI PEACE CONFERENCE has been held within walking distance of Caughnawaga, a long ago abandoned Mohawk Village, whose residents must have experienced incredible upheaval as their way of life was threatened by extinction in the face of European migration and usurpation of their homeland.
One can imagine that the very woods surrounding the annual site of the Kateri Peace Conference resounded with the speeches of many bringing words of considered council as the Mohawk people who lived here then tried to make sense of and build a future in the face of such daunting forces. "What are we to do?"
As the full impact of the post Colonial, post industrial, profit driven, nature exploitive ,existentially destructive way of life which has characterized the past couple of centuries becomes unmistakably manifest and the threat of planetary species extinction made real, we can find ourselves reeling with the same question as our ancient sisters and brothers, the same uncertainty, fear and profound sadness for ourselves and those we love.
As in the tradition of this conference, before confronting the issues at hand intellectually in typical conference fashion,
We are inviting participants to come together on Friday, August 16th for a few hours of quiet, less traditionally designed, reflection. Our hope is to ground the day within the context of its unique and significant location.
In addition to the many echoes of community councils reverberating through the woods which surround the KATERI Shrine, if one listens well enough, it is possible to hear the echoes of the ever repeated THANKSGIVING ADDRESS which accompanied any event of importance in the Haudenosaunee community.
This prayer served as a constant reminder that human beings lived and thrived only in a humble recognition of,as well as connection to, the great web of life.
It becomes clear that the fact that this wisdom was ignored and lost in the industrial revolution and the evolution of a consumer based society, has set the stage for the catastrophe which threatens because of our species disconnect from the natural world.
As we meet once again to explore the realities which confront us in our own 21st century time, we do so mindful of the truth of this place and in the same spirit of questing for understanding and guidelines for action, desiring, as the first people's did, to live in peace and harmony with our fellow planetary riders and our Mother Earth.
In the face of dissolution, we seek assurance of and definition for a viable future for those we love. We will gather, with our guest presenters to guide us,to listen quietly to what the resounding woods and the ancient wisdom has to share and hopefully will find comfort as we repeat together the refrain from the ancient Haudenosaunee prayer: “ And now our minds are one.”