Indigenous Justice

The following story contains descriptions of abuse.  Please hold this story with tenderness.

“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name." Exodus 20:7

February 22 is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day in Canada. (In the United States, January 11 is dedicated to addressing human trafficking.)

After much advocacy for its existence, members of Parliament unanimously agreed on the motion to adopt the day just last year, making this year the second annual awareness day. Awareness days provide an amplified platform and opportunity to highlight issues of great importance and concern. 

A United State Indigenous Churches policy was born in 1868 in a time when subjugation was the norm for native people. President Ulysses S. Grant advanced a “Peace Policy” to remove corrupt Indian agents, who supervise reservations, and replace them with Christian missionaries, whom the President deems morally exceptional.

We are too prone to engrave our trials in marble and write our blessings in sand.  - Charles Spurgeon 

Praying for Christians in the Middle East

American organization Churches for Middle East Peace are adding their voices to Middle East Christian leaders to petition for the sustainability and safety of Christians in the area.  We add our  voices in prayer:

Lord, who reveals love in place and in time,

"The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them." - Acts 21:26

 "Into this world, this demented inn in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ comes uninvited." - Thomas Merton

It's Christmas time and everywhere I look there are reminders, that for many, the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Saviour has become little more than a series of competitions that almost everyone is out to win. Competitions for the best gifts inclusive of gift wrapping, the best tree, and the best indoor and outdoor decorations. There are further competitions as to who has the best ugly sweater, throws the best parties, and cooks the best dinner.

Being the Justice and Reconciliation Mobilizer for the CRCNA is a position that demands, “heroic rebelliousness, humility, compliance and gratitude for the opportunity.”* I recently started reading this tiny but mighty book called, Towards Braiding which basically wrote about my experience in this role of raising the profile of and improving the church’s relationship to Indigenous-Settler responsibilities. The book was written as a result of experiences in a different institutional setting though. 

“Throughout most of human history, people have lived as tribal groups in small villages in relatively isolated areas… A radical transformation of all human societies occurred when the European explorers discovered the Western Hemisphere… European languages replaced tribal languages in many lands, first French and then English became the tongue of the civilized world, of diplomacy and trade, and finally of the accepted expressions of civilized values.”  - Vine Deloria Jr.[1]