Amidst all that’s happening, I’m reading The Nutmeg’s Curse by Amitav Ghosh.
It shows the conflict between native people living in harmony with Mother Earth and those who seek to domesticate, dominate, murder, and control.
I’ll give an example from the book of our horrific past in this country that demonstrates what happened this week with a Supreme Court now dominated by those who lied to be on it.
“The differences between European and Indian conception of living on the land have never been more eloquently summarized than by the Oglala Lakota chief Standing Bear: “We did not think of the great open plains, the beautiful rolling hills, and winding streams with tangled growth as ‘wild’. Only to the white man was Nature a ‘wilderness’ and only to him was the land infested with ‘wild animals’ and ‘savage’ people. To us, it was tame. Earth was bountiful and we were surrounded with the blessings of the Great Mystery.”
Ghosh continues: “These contrasting conceptions, suggests the Native American botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer, were ultimately founded on radically different stories about the world, like those of Skywoman and Eve.” She writes:
“On one side of the world were people whose relationship with the living world was shaped by Skywoman, who created a garden for all. On the other side was another woman with a garden and a tree. But for tasting its fruit, she was banished from the garden … That mother of men was made to wander in the wilderness and earn her bread by the sweat of her brow, not by filling her mouth with the sweet juicy fruits that bend the branches low. In order to eat, she was instructed to subdue the wilderness into which she was cast.”
Cathy's Blog! 
If, indeed Roe v Wade was in effect way back then, we would not have our beautiful daughters…..their birth mothers had no option, but we were delighted to offer them a family. It is bitter sweet….
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Oh, Ning, yes, a beautiful point Yes!! Perhaps that’s why there is so much conflict right now. There are no easy answers. Yes, I understand. Yes!
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Ning, Thank you for your comment. Yes!! Yes! Your beautiful daughters. Yes!! I see, and I see how complex this is for us all – so, so complex. Yes!! My sister-in-law has two beautiful adopted sons, and yes, thank you. I pause in deep, deep thought.
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Ning, yes, food for thought. Thank you!!
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Ning, yes, food for thought. My nephews are adopted, and I know others who wanted to adopt but there are very few children available these days. Yes, you are correct, “food for thought”. Thank you!
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Ning, I am in tears. Yes!! You have your beautiful daughters. My sister-in-law has two beautiful sons. One now has two beautiful daughters. Yes! I want a woman to have a right to choose, and yes, and perhaps that’s where we are all caught, in the complexity of choice, and how it manifests for us all. Yes!!
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Ning, I understand the dilemma. I understand the gift of your daughters. I want each child to be wanted and desired as yours were and have been, and I wonder how we ensure that, or maybe we can’t. You give me even more entry into the complexity of it all. Thank you!
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Cathy:
If Roe v Wade was in effect when our daughter’s were born, we would not have had the opportunity to adopt them. Food for thought….
Ning
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Though I do strongly believe in a woman’s right to choose, it was an interesting conversation with my daughter’s yesterday regarding the overturn of Roe v Wade.
It is impossible for me to fathom what my life would be like without raising them from birth, but I do know if R/W was law, they would not exist. I grapple with that reality, and I am very thankful their birth mother’s did not have the option to abort.
It is such a dilemma, but I will do whatever I can to support the right to choose…..
Ning
I have yet to
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Ning, I understand the complexity of it all. I do. My heart is with you and your daughters. Yes!!
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