{"id":5360,"date":"2022-12-12T10:54:35","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T15:54:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/?p=5360"},"modified":"2022-12-12T10:54:37","modified_gmt":"2022-12-12T15:54:37","slug":"healing-river-by-mey-hasbrook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/?p=5360","title":{"rendered":"“Healing River,” by Mey Hasbrook"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Message given at Durham Friends Meeting, December 11, 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While not a usual story for this time of year \u2013 Advent, and what we observe as Christmas \u2013 today\u2019s message I believe shares in its heart or essence.\u00a0 I offer a query for today\u2019s expectant waiting worship, as lifted by our opening song, \u201cHealing River\u201d:

Who is the Healing River?\u00a0 How do we welcome the river? And how does healing arise?<\/em>

As we gently carry this query, let\u2019s visit a river this morning found in Yellowstone National Park, what\u2019s popularly lauded as the first national park of the United States.\u00a0 The land base is linked with 27 tribal nations.

Wolves now are abundant because of being returned to the land in 1995, after being killed off in the 1930s.\u00a0 Yellowstone\u2019s web site explains \u201cthe presence of wolves triggered a still-unfolding cascade effect among animals and plants–one that will take decades of research to understand.\u201d\u00a0

A brief video documents and narrates the recovery of the land in Yellowstone, since humans returned the wolves.\u00a0 Taller trees invite songbirds.\u00a0 Forests regenerate, giving beavers willow to create habitats for more species.\u00a0 And the river\u2019s course becomes more steady with stronger banks, since elk seek refuge in wooded areas.\u00a0

This ecological process is called a trophic cascade<\/em>, beginning with \u201cthe top of the food chain\u201d and continuing \u201call the way down to the bottom.\u201d\u00a0 We are bearing witness to a kind of modern miracle described\u00a0 \u201cwhen an ecosystem becomes whole again\u201d, and all because of welcoming wolves back to the land.

I wish to honor the healing that is taking place there especially with the river.\u00a0 The river as Living Waters, establishing healthier spaces for an increasing range of plants and animals.\u00a0 This possibility only arose through restoring balance.\u00a0 The presence of wolves spread out the elks, ending overuse of banks; human efforts did not accomplish this aim in prior decades.

~~
Again, our query: Who is the Healing River?\u00a0 How do we welcome the river? And how does healing arise?<\/em>

Twenty-seven tribal nations are linked with the land called Yellowstone National Park.\u00a0 The park\u2019s historical accounts of itself erased the Original Peoples\u2019 own stories and even their existence.\u00a0 This year is the 150th<\/sup> anniversary of Yellowstone, and a new Tribal Heritage Center was opened. One of the center\u2019s aims is to bring \u201cNative American artists, scholars and others to speak directly with visitors about Indigenous cultures.\u201d

I pray that this small change \u2013 of bringing in some Indigenous persons with firsthand stories of Original Peoples \u2013 will become like the trophic cascade credited to wolves.\u00a0 As Doug Smith, a wildlife biologist in charge of the Yellowstone Wolf Project, describes:\u00a0 \u201clike kicking a pebble down a mountain slope where conditions were just right that a falling pebble could trigger an avalanche of change.\u201d

Yes, certain<\/em> changes despite being small can<\/em> contribute to the restoration of life and land for Original Peoples and for All.\u00a0 Justice too is miraculous and brings healing, or wholeness.\u00a0 How will we embrace the movement of Spirit?\u00a0

What is our leading from the shared space of what we call Durham Friends Meeting \u2013 this gathering in a Meeting House near the Androscoggin River, alongside a forest under our care, sitting on the lands of Wabanaki Peoples?\u00a0 How does God call us as a faith community \u2013 and as persons of Quaker faith \u2013\u00a0 to welcome the healing river to our neighbors, to every kind of neighbor?<\/em>

In closing today\u2019s message, I\u2019ll read a Bible passage of great importance to me over decades.\u00a0 While it does not name a river, the scripture does speak about the Living Waters, healing, and change.\u00a0 I believe it\u2019s a bridge to the kind of change that we seek at this time of year.\u00a0 From Isaiah 58 verses 6 to 12 (NRSVUE):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6 Is not this the fast that I choose:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to loose the bonds of injustice,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to undo the straps of the yoke,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to let the oppressed go free,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and to break every yoke?
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and bring the homeless poor into your house;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

when you see the naked, to cover them<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and your healing shall spring up quickly;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

your vindicator [a] shall go before you;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

you shall cry for help, and he will say, \u201cHere I am.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you remove the yoke from among you,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10 if you offer your food to the hungry<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

then your light shall rise in the darkness<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and your gloom be like the noonday.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11 The Lord will guide you continually<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and satisfy your needs in parched places<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and make your bones strong,,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and you shall be like a watered garden,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

like a spring of water whose waters never fail.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12 Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

you shall be called the repairer of the breach,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the restorer of streets to live in.

~~~~~~~~~~ | ~~~~~~~~~~ | ~~~~~~~~~~ | ~~~~~~~~~~

About the hymn \u201cHealing River\u201d.
<\/em>American “Fran” Minkoff wrote the lyrics, and the song released the same year, 1964, that Pete Seeger spent the Mississippi Freedom Summer working for racial justice.\u00a0 Singing to an audience upon learning of the murder of three young civil rights workers, the musician describes the audience\u2019s response\u00a0 not \u201cshouting for revenge\u201d but, instead,\u201can intense determination to continue this work of love.\u201d Attributed to his memoir, as described here \u2013\u00a0 https:\/\/singout.org\/folksingers-field-report-august-5-1964\/<\/a> .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Yellowstone Wolf Project.
<\/em>Video and article titled, \u201cWolf Reintroduction Changes Ecosystem in Yellowstone\u201d (2021), found here \u2013 https:\/\/www.yellowstonepark.com\/things-to-do\/wildlife\/wolf-reintroduction-changes-ecosystem\/<\/a> .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Tribal Heritage Center at Yellowstone.
<\/em>Article titled, \u201cYellowstone showcases the area\u2019s Indigenous peoples for 150th anniversary\u201d (2022), found here \u2013\u00a0 https:\/\/thepointsguy.com\/news\/yellowstone-showcases-indigenous-peoples\/<\/a> .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Message given at Durham Friends Meeting, December 11, 2022 While not a usual story for this time of year \u2013 Advent, and what we observe as Christmas \u2013 today\u2019s message I believe shares in its heart or essence.\u00a0 I offer … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":213,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-message"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9rLvf-1os","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5360"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5361,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5360\/revisions\/5361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}