“Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live in peace with everyone.” Romans 12:18
These verses are from early church writers who are trying to bring together different languages and ethnic groups. The do not speak the same language or eat the same foods or worship the same God.
In the movie, Molly’s Game , there is a short conversation between Molly and her father about their relationship. Her dad is therapist and he says, “ Sit down. I am going to give you three years of therapy in three minutes .” I thought of this line, when I attended a First Nations concert at St. James Lutheran Church here in Elmira. One of the Indigenous women said that when the settlers ( me) arrived about 500 years ago, they did not respect us, and they just took our resources and land. So, we have had a bad relationship from the beginning, and have never really entered therapy with each other. How long would this kind of relational therapy take to bring healing ?
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada interviewed people across Canada over many years trying to bring a new sense to the relationship between settlers and First Nations persons. They came up with 94 recommendations to make a start to a new relationship. One place we can start in the big picture is to advocate that the Canadian government pass the The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ( Recommendations 43-44 ). It is in third reading in the Canadian Parliament. The United Nations has passed it, and has strongly urged on their member nations to ratify it. It speaks to bringing concrete measures to achieve a more lasting peace with our Indigenous brothers and sisters. Please speak to our Member of Parliament, and invite him to advocate on its behalf. The final vote is on February 7.
One of the speakers at the event at St. James was a school teacher from the Six Nations community. He teaches grades seven and eight in his school. He brought the prayer/thanksgiving at the beginning and at the end of the ceremony. He is a member of the Mohawk nation, but he does not speak Mohawk, but he is learning. This man is a survivor of the residential school system. He was taken from his home, and educated in the English system, and was not allowed to speak his native language. He was punished for speaking the language of his home and community. This is horrific, and it happened while I was growing up a half an hour away in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
This and many other experiences are more than just misunderstandings; they were wrong, and we are guilty. The problems are so enormous after 500 years. The problem of clean drinking water ( when Canada has the most clean water in all the world ), suicide, harassment, racism. Where do we start ? St. James Lutheran started and continues to hold events. We can urge the Government to pass the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
In the Indigenous communities we are invited to listen. This might be the most compassionate thing that we can do now. After 500 hundred years, where do we start ?
Fred Redekop
Ponder Anew 