Isaiah 40:25-31 ‘
Psalm 103 1-10
Matthew 11:28-30
These texts speak powerfully to oppression, resiliency and hope.
For many years, First Nations in Canada have been calling on other Canadians to recognize the horror, grief and injustices experienced in the Indian Residential schools established to enforce the Federal Government’s policy of assimilation, “to kill the Indian in the child.” In June 2015 Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission released ’94 Calls to Action’ to address this horrific legacy in our history. But nothing has shamed and pricked the conscience like the grim discovery of the remains of hundreds of children lying in unmarked graves on the grounds of the former schools.
Now that the media light (fleeting though it is) has been brought to bear on this genocide, will we see action? Will more attention be given to these calls to action?
Given the heartbreaking pain of intergenerational trauma, Indigenous people demonstrated amazing resiliency. They are deeply spiritual and teach us that when an eagle circles above a gathering it is a sacred sign of the Creator’s call to have courage and be strong. Isaiah calls us to trust in the Lord, to run and not be weary, to walk and not faint, to work for that day when no one is missing and everyone is named and loved for who they are in the eyes of the Creator.
Lynne Samways Hiltz and Fred Hiltz
