"In every deliberation we must consider the impact on the seventh
generation… even if it requires having skin as thick as the bark of a
pine."    ~Great Law of the Iroquois

Yesterday I wrote about the three simple rules from a book by Rueben Job. The first rule for living a life to change the world was ‘Do No Harm’.  Upon reading this concise statement, I thought immediately of the Seventh Generation principle often spoken of in ecological circles. It is a concept of sustainability, borrowed from the wisdom of the first people, that invites all people to think of how their actions today will affect the generations to come…..imagining out seven generations. Let’s see, that would be my great,great,great,great,great grandchildren. It is a sobering thought. How does my living today create opportunities, or lack, for those who will carry my DNA into the far-reaching future? How can I resolve to ‘do no harm’ in the anticipation of their walking this Earth?

Doing no harm is not necessarily passive work. It can take a certain amount of thick skin ….just like the pine….to resist the lures of the easy life of throw away bottles, cars that use massive amounts of fossil fuels, and entertainment that sells short our creative spirit. Doing no harm can often mean going against the flow, not buying into a culture of fear and hopelessness.Doing no harm can be as simple, and as difficult, as saying ‘no.’ No to poverty. No to abuse.No to religious messages that are harmful.No to war. No to more. No to all those little things that add up to mountains of trouble for the great, great, greats yet to be.

This practice is not born out of stubbornness or rebellion but out of a great hope. Susan Werner, who performed at our church in April wrote a beautiful, soulful song that speaks to this way of walking in the world.

r life."There is a hope
That’s been expressed in you
The hope of seven generations, maybe more
And this is the faith
That they invest in you
It’s that you’ll do one better than was done before
Inside you know
Inside you understand
Inside you know what’s yours to finally set right
And I suggest
And I suggest to you
And I suggest this is the best part of your life."

Hundreds of years ago, a great, great, great I did not know, imagined a world for me. And now I do the same…….hoping to do no harm, hoping those I only dream about will walk their steps on a whole, healthy,beautiful Earth….and be as grateful as I am.