In her luminous book Braiding Sweetgrass, Native American botanist and philosopher Robin Wall Kimmerer shares a dream about visiting her local market on an unusual day. With a basket over her arm, she tries to pay for fresh cilantro, but the vendor pats her arm and waves off Kimmerer’s attempt to pay. “A gift,” the vendor says. As Kimmerer moves further through the market, she sees bread rolls at a stall and opens her purse, but again, the vendor refuses to accept her money, as if it were impolite to pay. Kimmerer looks around in confusion, thinking, “This is a familiar market, yet everything has changed.” In this dream, no shopper is paying. The author drifts through the market with a feeling of euphoria. Gratitude is the only currency accepted here. It’s all a gift — the merchants, it seems, are passing on gifts from the earth. Kimmerer examines her basket, and although it’s half empty, it feels full. Then, noticing a cheese stall, she considers getting some. But after realizing it would be given as a gift, she exercises restraint. She has all she needs in her basket. Kimmerer shares this dream to show that moving from a market economy to a gift economy — from private goods to shared goods — changes everything. When we see the earth’s resources as abundant gifts shared by all, rather than as consumer goods to hoard and sell at market price, our view shifts. As we often say at the communion table: “These are the gifts of God for the people of God.” The parable of the rich foolThis story from Braiding Sweetgrass provides an essential context and counterweight for understanding our gospel passage from Luke 12:13-21, the parable of the rich fool. ... Read the rest of the commentary at pres-outlook.org.Thank you to this week's writer, Roger Gench. | 
