Potlatch

 Dear Friends,

You may well ask why I wish to refer to the Native American custom of potlatch, which is still practiced in the Pacific Northwest. In fact, it is in some ways, similar to our customary celebration of Thanksgiving and even Christmas.

Today, I would like to mention a dear friend of mine, who is celebrating her 70^th birthday this year. In spite of a challenging childhood, or perhaps because of it, she ultimately became a healer, prolific artist and author. Despite daily pain and physical challenges from 9+ autoimmune diseases, she continues to maintain a positive attitude, and continues to allow the creative juices to flow onto the page and/or canvas, while still living independently.

This weekend, as part of a civic art show, she plans to give away for free, 50 of her paintings. Her desire to do this is, I believe, twofold. The first, is to make room for new impulses to come in. The second, is the tradition of potlatch, which is typically a gathering together of family and friends, sometimes over several days, to celebrate a special event. The family holding the event distribute gifts to all participants, which is opposite to our culture, where they would expect to receive gifts, except perhaps at Thanksgiving and Christmas. During these two festivals, there is usually an upwelling desire to bring family and friends together for a feast, and the exchange of gifts. Amongst some of the Native Americans, it was a way of redistributing wealth or sharing resources, among other purposes.

In the New Testament, there are many examples of giving as well. The first Christmas, where gifts were brought to the baby Jesus. The woman who misplaces a gold coin, or the father who temporarily loses a son. When they are found again, there is a feast or celebration. The rich man who asked Jesus what more he could do, and was told to give up all that he had and distribute it to the poor. The disciples were commanded to set out and take nothing with them. Our community priests are also asked to do the same.

Which is better – to give or to receive? The former suggests an act of selflessness. Over the past two years and moving forward, we can clearly see that there is more and more need for giving. Several close friends and relatives have all responded to an underlying impulse this year to give away things that have become merely stuff. We see the continued growth of a chasm between the rich and the poor.

The time has come for us to listen to our hearts and ignore political posturing, and respond in a positive way to the global hijacking of world economies and governments by multinational corporations. The need has never been greater for communities to come together and share all that we have. Real change will only happen at the grassroots level. It can only happen through the acts of individuals working together in a peaceful manner.  We are seeing this in places that have experienced natural catastrophes, collapsed economies and overwhelmed institutional structures. Now, as never before, we can perceive the light of Christ, that wants to work in us and through us.

Sparky