A Word from Joel - November 26, 2025

I recently finished Robin Wall Kimmerer’s incredible book, Braiding Sweetgrass, which combines indigenous wisdom with modern science in a series of essays about plant wisdom. In one essay, she introduces the Thanksgiving Address, an ancient indigenous practice across many North American tribes that in the Onodaga language is called, The Words That Come Before All Else. Kimmerer writes, “It is said that people were instructed to stand and offer these words whenever they gathered, no matter how many or how few, before anything else was done.” This year also marks the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’ Canticle of the Creatures, which has been put to music in the hymn “All Creatures of Our God and King.” These two works share much in common. Both give thanks to God for the diversity of creation, personifying the Sun as Brother and the Earth as Mother. Notice the overlaps the Thanksgiving Address has with the Canticle of the Creatures in these excerpts:

  Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue. 
  We have been given the duty to live in balance and harmony 
  with each other and all living things.
  So now, we bring our minds together as one 
  as we give greetings and thanks to each other as people.
  Now our minds are one.

  Be conscious, O human, of the wondrous state 
  in which the Lord God has placed you
  for you were created in God's image and likeness 
  according to the Spirit.
  And yet all the creatures under heaven, 
  each according to its nature, 
  serve, know, and obey their Creator better than you.

  We now send greetings and thanks 
  to our eldest Brother, the Sun.
  Each day without fail he travels the sky from east to west, 
  bringing the light of a new day.
  He is the sources of all the fires of life. 
  With one mind, we send greetings 
  and thanks to our Brother, the Sun.
  Now our minds are one.

  Praised be You, my Lord, with all your creatures;
  especially Brother Sun, who is the day, 
  and through whom You give us light.
  And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor,
  and bears a likeness to You, Most High One.

  We are all thankful to our Mother, the Earth, 
  for she gives us all that we need for life.
  She supports our feet as we walk upon her. 
  It gives us joy that she continues to care for us
  as she has from the beginning of time.
  To our Mother, we send thanksgiving, love, and respect.
  Now our minds are one.

  Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Mother Earth,
  who sustains us and governs us and who produces
  varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

How ever you celebrate the Thanksgiving Holiday, in addition to giving thanks for family, food, and friendship, consider your place in the vast web of creation. We are part of a diverse creation in which each part needs the other. Dr. King said, “In a real sense all life is inter-related. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” This is true of all life, not just human. May God open our eyes to the interrelatedness of all things, including Brother Sun and Mother Earth. Happy Thanksgiving!