“The Good Earth” ( ) [Cree+01 Series [Reflections on Benny Lewis' Book Fluent In 3 Months New York: Harper-Collins, 2014 - Intro]

It’s deep, this sense of rootedness that’s risen up these days –
A sense of being home at last, in word, and where I stay;
Lord, thanks for this respite at last from unexpected source;
And thanks for life that’s opened up – “kweh-keen” past our remorse.

Remorse for attitudes I’ve held as part of settler-group,
Who’ve left behind constrictive times and places on our route;
To better lives for one and all on Turtle-Island’s shores;
Behavior not the best of class – and much which we abhor.

Lord, now I see the question facing me is, “What’s your turf?”
As I perused the map today I suddenly sensed, “Earth”;
For it’s a part of all of this, that’s absent from my past –
Not all my past, but much of it, but earth is mine at last.

I had not noticed how I’ve been cut off from mother Earth –
For years I’ve not been part of her from days which saw my birth;
But now I feel at home at last, not “visiting” each day;
So, thank you, Lord, I have at last a place where I can play.

My role’s in life, as body-part, on Kingdom-layer, no doubt;
But also with a rootedness in world that’s all about
Us, but we tramp on quite unseen, as we live out each day;
A huge relief I find, indeed, as I come back to stay.

At this point, I feel part of it, which is allotted part –
Extends from mountain foothills to Laurentian Shield that starts
To circle north to Sandy Lake, past Oxford House, and such,
Then on up to Hay River, cruising south as part I’ve touched.

It dips down to the northern States a bit, for we’ve been there;
But not that much, it’s northern part of Prairie’s that’s my care;
Beyond that, I’m just “Visitor” in other peoples’ turf;
Within all this, there’s plenty to explore of Your earth.

That is, it’s all Algonquin lands, with Blackfoot to the West.
The Inuit just to the north (for South of that is best);
To Thunder Bay is much too far for me to wander east;
This patch of Prairie land that’s mine is lots ’till I’m deceased.

I want to understand this turf, it’s legacy of kin,
Available to all of us if we would just begin
To leave behind where we’ve come from, as we set out to do;
And enter into our new home – as You have asked us to.

But first, I need to language learn, their customs, and their ways;
I need to change my outlook from its past, to coming days;
I need to ask of wisdom learned from generations past,
As they’ve endured all that has been, to bring them here at last.

So, thank You we can change our ways, reset the clock again;
Ask how we might proceed from here without inflicting pain
On those around us, as we move from here to brighter days;
Thanks Lord, for opening up my eyes to earth and part it plays.

Thanks Lord for this.

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