I remember listening to a tale from the Kalahari Desert, when a group of European travellers met three San Bushmen emerging from the Okavango during a great drought.
The Bushmen were dying of thirst and the travelers gave them water to drink.
The three men drank and drank until their bellies were swollen.
Giving the water skins back, they turned to go on their way.
The Europeans were angered by what they saw as a lack of gratitude, they couldn’t understand why no thanks were offered. After all had they not saved the Bushman’s lives!
The Bushman guide of the travelers explained; why would a person thank another for being polite, for simply doing what was right?
This is where the old ways meet the new ones and in this short film this Aboriginal Elder tells the story in another way.
Where please and thank you have become the servants of ownership and the concept of this is mine.
Our contingent state is sharing and giving, we own nothing, nothing is ours. With this realization comes unimaginable freedom and happiness.
