I’m listening this morning to Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book “Braiding Sweetgrass.” It is a wonderful book and even better in the audio version, getting to listen to Kimmerer’s voice share musical story telling rather than just see it on the page. I’m nearly done with the book and reflecting again on the idea of the seventh fire.

The Anishanaabe speak of history and future through the telling of the stories of eight fires or prophecies. It is believed that we are now in the time of the seventh fire, the time in which the path forward must be chosen. Which path is chosen may lead to destruction or to abundance and peace. One path is green and lush, the other black and charred.

Some say that this is a time not to walk forward, but to look back, to learn, to put things back together. I am not Anishanaabe. I am what is often referred to in the stories as the “light skinned race.” Some say this is a time for all people to look forward and for us to decide on that path forward. I wonder how I and others of the “light skinned race,” learn and come to recognize ourselves to make the choice as we come to the divergent paths.

Then I remember, it is March. When I walk outside this is the time when I look up to the trees watching for the buds to just start to arrive. It is the time when my joy comes each day from seeing another bud, walking through the weeks to watch the green arrive and the leaves begin to burst. I am reminded that I cannot be who I am without this practice and smile with the memory of continually being surprised by the sudden burst of life each spring.

I began this blog back in 2018 to share stories that I hoped might give strength and direction to the many people out there who are trying to change the world for the better in their many different ways. We do hard work and it hurts sometimes. It is our time to gather strength, knowledge, hope, courage, and love to walk forward by looking around us. Lift our heads from our cell phones and computer screens to see the buds on the trees, the birds flying, the creatures with whom we share the world and to listen to them. They hold the wisdom we’ve forgotten. Now, is our time to remember.