Beside Restful Waters
by Gregory Hermann

The single biggest thing I learned was from
an indigenous elder of Cherokee descent,
Stan Rushworth, who reminded me of the difference
between a Western settler mindset of
“I have rights”
and an indigenous mindset of
“I have obligations.”
Instead of thinking that I am born with rights, I choose to think
that I am born with obligations to serve past,
present, and future generations,
And the planet herself.
Namaste’