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As we approach the date when Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, honoring the friendship of the settlers and the native Americans, I am posting the Iroquois prayer for Thanksgiving. When I posted this in several regions, a few Thanksgivings ago, I was criticized for posting a "pagan" prayer. However, I think the prayer is poignant and beautiful. And who, after all, is the Great Spirit?

We return thanks to our mother, the Earth, which sustains us.
We return thanks to the rivers and streams, which supply us with water.
We return thanks to all herbs, which furnish medicines for the cure of our diseases.
We return thanks to the corn, and to her sisters, the beans and squash, which give us life.
We return thanks to the bushes and trees, which provide us with fruit.
We return thanks to the wind, which, moving the air, sends sadness away.
We return thanks to the moon and stars, which have given us their light when the sun was gone.
We return thanks to our grandparents, who have protected their grandchildren from witches and reptiles, and have given us their rain.
We return thanks to the sun that has looked upon the Earth with beneficent eye.
We return thanks to the Great Spirit, who embodies all goodness, and who directs all things for the good of the children.