SENECA THANKSGIVING RITUALS 17 



1. The People 



(1) And now, we are gathered in a group. (2) And this is what the 

 Sky Dwellers ® did: they told us that we should always have love, we 

 who move about on the earth. (3) And this will always be first 

 when people come to gather, the people who move about on the 

 earth. (4) It is the way it begins when two people meet: they first 

 have the obligation to be grateful that they are happy.^° (5) They 

 greet ^^ each other, and after that they take up the matter with which 

 just they two are concerned. (6) And this is what Our Creator '^ 

 did: he decided, "The people moving about on the earth will simply ^^ 

 come to express their gratitude." (7) And that is the obligation of 

 those of us who are gathered: that we continue to be grateful. (8) 

 This, too, is the way things are: we have not heard of any unfor- 

 tunate occurrence that there might be ^^ in the community. (9) And 

 the way things are, there are people \y'\i\g here and there, held down 

 by illness; and even that, certainly, is the responsibility of the 

 Creator.^^ (10) And therefore let there be gratitude; we are always 

 going to be grateful, we who remain, we who can claim to be happy. 

 (11) And give it your thought: the first thing for us to do is to be 

 thankful for each other. And our minds will continue to be so. 



» The Four Beings (p. 9). 



>o Lit. 'that they are thinking well', with reference to both mental and physical health. 



" Or 'are thankful for'; see p. 1. 



>2 Lit. 'he fashioned our lives'. 



" I.e., it is all that will be required of them. 



1* More Ut., 'that a difficult thing might accidentally occur', a euphemism for death. 



" I.e., it is for him to decide whether or not they will recover. 



