Granny’s Mixing Bowl

This teaching reminds me of my Granny’s mixing bowl.
When I was five years old my mother developed Tuberculosis and was taken away from our home in Moose Jaw where she cared for my four older brothers and I. She was taken for a very long stay in a hospital in Fort Quappell , Saskatchewan.
During this time I saw more of Métis Cree granny than when my mother was well. During my mother’s illness my granny would come over. For some reason she brought her butter coloured yellow mixing bowl with her. This puzzled me. We had mixing bowls in our cupboard that she could have used. As a child I surmised that my granny’s mixing bowl must be a magic mixing bowl. The fact that everything mixed in that bowl was sumptuous was surely proof of that! One day I took a deep breath and as granny put ingredient after ingredient into the bowl, I asked. “Why do you bring your bowl here?  We have bowls in the cupboard here that you could use”? Granny smiled. Your great grandma gave this bowl to me. When she gave it to me she said this bowl is like circle of people bringing their goodness together.  When I use this bowl I am reminded of Creator. You see Creator has made each of us different from one another. All of us are here to make the world a better place. The different things I put into this bowl are like the unique gifts each of us have inside of us. There are no two people who have the same gifts inside of them. We all use our inner gifts as ‘good medicine’ where it is needed.  Like a mixing bowl, when we all bring our inner gifts together something good comes of it.
When she was well, my mom came home from the hospital. Granny would come to visit. Now, she and my mom worked beside one another to cook, use the wringer washer, and to hang wet clothes on the long clothes line to dry. When they would sit to take a break I would sit with them. Granny would invite me to sit on her knee and would whisper in my ear “Always remember  the gifts you carry inside of yourself. Share them with others. Together, like the ingredients in granny’s mixing bowl, we will make the world a better place.”  The bringing together of our unique inner gifts requires us to make a conscious effort to pay attention to how our words and actions impact those around us.
The elders who have mentored me say that when they wake in the morning, they prepare themselves to come together with another in a good way. They are aware that that if they are not living the values they had been taught to live,  it would impact everyone around them in a negative manner. Cultures are diverse. There are many different ceremonies, and ways of preparing one’s self. Some take a spiritual  bath in the river, some brush with branches of cedar or spruce, some light a candle or  sage or sweet grass.  I was taught to use sage and to smudge by my Cree elder, the late Leonard Ward.  Please know that I am not writing this to impose anything from my culture upon you. I share this with you to let you know what I have been taught.