I live and write on Lingít Aaní, and gratefully acknowledge the past, present and future caretakers of this beautiful place, the Jilkaat Kwaan and Jilkoot Kwaan.

This is a thought I stole from the back page of the new Hospice of Haines newsletter, and is a favorite quote of my friend Beth, the HOH director. I think it is a very good one to begin 2016 with. Reverend Carolyn Colbert says:

“I have this notion that we live in sea of prayer. All over the world, in almost all traditions, prayer is being practiced. Practiced in a multitude of forms. Prayers are chanted, prayers are danced, prayers are spoken aloud and sounded in silence within. Prayers are written on paper and scattered like petals on the waters of the world. Some prayers are floated out on the breath; others are pounded out on the drumbeat of our hearts. Prayers are said and sung and danced morning noon and night. They are flung on the wind by flapping flags and spun into the air by turning wheels. Prayers are shouted from the tops of majestic mountains and whispered by children at bedtime in the close and holy darkness. Amen. So be it. Blessed be.”