Is There Any Truth or Reconciliation?
|
Let's Start With Reconciliation What does it mean to reconcile? According to the Oxford Dictionary, it means finding solutions to opposing ideas or needs. With people, it means bringing opponents into harmony so their relationships are restored. To understand this concept, we can examine a case study of our first parents of the human race, Adam and Eve. This is by no means an exhaustive treatise on the subject, but it draws parallels. God had given Adam and Eve a perfect world, with perfect bodies that would never die. They had perfect living conditions with perfect food to nourish their earthly bodies. The only thing withheld from them was the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God told them that the day they ate from that tree, they would die. They disobeyed, and their bodies began to die (they died eventually). They lost a right relationship with God. Then God gave us His laws to live by (the 10 Commandments), plus a system of sacrifice to atone for sin so we can be regenerated and reconciled to Him (restored relationship). But because historically, humans failed to keep that standard, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to keep His laws perfectly, die in our place to atone for our sins, so we can be reconciled to Him, so that when we die we receive perfect, sinless bodies, fit to live in heaven, where God is. That's the truth of how we can be reconciled to God. The Truth of Relationship With Our Indigenous Nations This is a highly simplified version of the current situation, so bear with me. Native peoples inhabited Canada before the Europeans arrived. In Eastern Canada, Natives observed the tools and equipment that the visitors used and wanted them (pots, pans, trinkets, and eventually liquor and guns). The visitors also wanted things from the Natives (all manner of furs worn as everyday garments). Trade began between the two people groups. In some cases, Natives eventually ceded land to the new guests who wanted to settle on their lands. In some areas, government representatives made and kept treaties, so the two peoples had a friendly relationship and coexisted. In other cases, treaties were made but were not kept. In that mix of relationships, different Europeans treated different tribes differently, just as different tribes treated each other differently. Relationships were not always harmonious between tribes, or between tribes and government representatives of the new immigrants to this land. Some government representatives were kind; others were unkind. The fight for justice for the wrongs done to Native people will always be between the existing Government and the Natives. The question remains, 'How do we find the right formula to reconcile right relationships so we can live in harmony?' Past Government Solutions. How Much Is Enough?
The question is, 'How much money is enough? How many apologies are enough?' In the past, Federal Government agents issued apologies to Canadian Native Communities.
So the apologies have been made, and financial compensation has been paid and received. What more can be done? To bring the conversation back to where we started, we (humans) did wrong; our relationship with God was broken; God gave us a system of sacrifice and a series of laws to help us rebuild that relationship; we failed miserably to perform those obligations. God sent His Son (whose birth the whole world will celebrate in a few months) to keep the conditions perfectly so that our relationship can be restored - by faith. He died and rose again so that we can have eternal life if we put our faith in Him. Once we have done that, our slate is clean. We don't have to keep paying for wrongs we have done in rebellion against God. So when will the transgressions done against our Native neighbours be adequately repaid? What is the road to reconciliation if money and apologies have not worked? Drop me a line at info@christianrootscanada.org. Let's brainstorm ways to bring true Truth and Reconciliation. --------------------------------------- Coming Soon: 2027 Calendar This year I will take my doctor's advice and avoid the stress of last-minute requests for 10 to 15 calendars as Christmas presents. I am on a mission to encourage you to shop early for Christmas. Calendars will be printed by the last week of October, so you will have all of November to order. When this drops next week, sign up so I can give the printer the final numbers by October 23. There will also be sales on everything in the store. -------------------------- Reminder: Sign up for Lunch N' Learn #9 Legacies of Christian Millionaire: Sir Joseph Flavelle In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Sherbourne Street Methodist Church in Toronto was known as 'The Millionaires' Church'. This was because many wealthy businessmen were members. The story begins with the rags-to-riches story of Sir Joseph Wesley Flavelle, owner of a meat-packing business which morphed into today's Maple Leaf Meat Processors. Ps Here are 2 ways you can support our work and spread the message in the email: |