This is Native American month (November) and today I am going to talk a little about a give away, how it’s done and the ways it helps a community.  The give aways are events that pay tribute for being blessed as a way of thanking all of the people who had a part in getting whatever it is that was gotten and giving everyone a meaningful gift.  The purpose is to show gratitude to everyone in the community.   It was not to call attention to the giver, but a prayerful way to bring thankfulness to Spirit for something positive in their lives.  They were had for a baby’s naming ceremony, for weddings like ours, to celebrate someone’s life with their burial, at traditional gatherings and ceremonies including Pow Wows, also if someone had a stroke of good fortune– like winning the lottery, or if an adult child comes home, particularly if they are in the military and come home.  They were had to build community when they felt down and betrayed.

Someone who feels especially blessed calls for a Potlatch or a Give Away, and the one who feels blessed hosts the event in a very customary way.  Either a large table is set up or a blanket is spread, and the person hosting the give away fills the blanket or table with things he or she has made like jewelry, quilts, beaded shoes, baskets, and so forth, and also puts out some of his/her prize possessions.  There cannot be anything that is used unless it has sentimental meaning.  All gifts have to require some act of sacrifice and be something with meaning to the giver. It allows for community cohesion but also for personal growth. The person hosting the give away shares of himself with the community.

Then all of the guests gather, and the custom has a process.  In some cultures, warriors go first and in others elders go first, but they are the first two groups to go to the blanket or the table in all cultures.  It’s a time of reverence as these warriors and elders quickly but quietly and prayerfully walk up to the blanket or table and choose an item that speaks to them.  They only take one thing, and it must be done with prayer and the leadership of Spirit.  They cannot call attention to themselves or the object, nor can they react to getting something.  If someone else gets what you had thought Spirit led you to, you don’t react in any way by showing displeasure. After the warriors and elders, women go, then little children and then men. It is this way in all Native cultures who  practice this give away custom.  Giving and receiving are both done in prayer and with reverence.  There is an air of humility and gratitude. Those who are well off know that they can share of themselves with the community because they didn’t get wealthy without the group or community that supported them or played a part in their lives.  It is a time of true thanksgiving.  It is a way of saying, “This blessing belongs to all of us., no matter what is going on outside of us.”

These ceremonies continue to this day in spite of the white people that outlawed them. They were considered a threat to community by the government and to individualistic mindset of Americans.  In 1922, just a hundred years ago, Federal Indian Commissioner Charles H Burke said that the potlatches and give aways do not “foster a competitive, individualistic economic mentality and a Christian faith using missionaries as aides in the effort.”  He called the ceremonies evil and foolish and said, “No good can come from your give away custom.”  However, the give away helped maintain social status of the giver and showed egalitarianism through distribution of assets and resources.  When one person was joyful, all could be a part of the joy and the process.  People give because they feel the joy of gratitude and connection of community.

Also,  I tend to disagree with Charles Burke’s assumption that give aways are unChristian.  A give away is similar to what the first churches did with sharing all of their possessions. It is definitely better to give than to receive, if you let it be.  Oprah Winfrey said it beautifully: “Be thankful for what you have, you’ll end up having more.  If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”  We could be living in a society that was thankful for its abundance.  It starts with choosing to return to what has worked for centuries, to bring people together.

How can I talk of gratitude in a week like this week? This practice of giving has gone on for centuries — during broken treaties, wars, mass sickness, displacement and losing entire villages to small pox, through these and many other tragedies each tribe has spread a blanket and given from the heart.

        Think about the verses that Mike read from Philippians 4.  Paul was in prison and the Christians he was talking to had to see their friends crucified and roads lined with crosses.  Still he said, “Rejoice in the Lord always.  I say it again, rejoice!…In every situation use prayer and do it with thanksgiving.”

But today’s message is not to hurry you through grief, but to say that in your grief don’t stop doing the spiritual things that keep you you – that keep you connected to each other, that give you a sense of that there is a Higher Power that wants peace – that wants a society of Love.  We aren’t to depend on the government to provide our motivation to love and to cling to the spiritual practices that bring out your better selves, what reminds us of community?  What makes us see the good when the bad is so overwhelming? For centuries in spite of laws outlawing the practice, Native Americans found it in them to give of themselves to others.  While grieving and mourning they stayed true to what created a sense of cohesiveness.  As we do in silent worship, we build community through silence and sharing from the heart and shared prayer.  By coming to the mic, you come to give of your best to one another, sharing of yourself – like putting your precious items on the blanket, giving your heart and your emotions time to feel the unity of one another’s collective pain and collective strength.  Let us pray together, even find it in us to see some good in the chaos, find a glimmer of hope to share with each other.  You probably don’t have it alone today given the events of the week, but together we can weather any storm; together we can console one another in our despair.