HELLO!

On Wednesday, September 30^th I will be wearing my orange shirt to mark our National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. I am including this short three-minute video by our United Church of Canada Moderator, Rev. Kimberly Heath. Here she shares a personal reflection on participating in the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation ceremony on Parliament Hill. In this message, Moderator Heath honours the children who never came home, recognizes the courage and resilience of survivors, and acknowledges the ongoing impacts of residential schools and intergenerational trauma. She also reaffirms the church's commitment to walking the path of truth, justice, healing, and reconciliation with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. As we wear orange, may we remember, learn, and work together toward renewed relationships and lasting reconciliation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7WG5DtCS3k&t=2s

On this day I reflect on what was lost due to our collective sin of arrogance, our conceit we spoke for God, that our way was THE way. I recall a conversation I had early in my ministry with a man who wondered why we “make this fuss” about residential schools and the harm churches caused by our complicity with these institutions and systems.

What lays behind an institution and system like residential schools is an assumption, namely that from the millions of people who have lived on this planet, only Christians, and specifically Christians from western Europe and North America, could possibly understand and interpret the words and purpose of God. To those who hold this self-centred opinion, those “other cultures” were at best “uncivilized” and at worst “evil”. Because many of us are not “other” we fail to grasp the pain, the evil, of such thinking. The man who wondered, “why all this fuss”, was known to me. In his personal story he did not speak to his in-laws because they “looked down on him”, made him feel “less than”. And yet…this man who felt “hurt” for those reasons could not understand how communities dismantled by colonialism felt. God is so much more mysterious than we realize. Yes, God is personal. But not so personal as to be “just like you”. We all have a lot to learn and a lot to gain from truth and reconciliation.

Peace, Kevin