Guest Post - Telling The Truth About Our Past
- bordenmscott
- Oct 15, 2021
- 5 min read
Hi Everyone! In place of a regular Overflow post this week I (Pastor Borden) am hosting a reflection from our Mentored Ministry student, Erica Corbin. I asked Erica to write some reflections on the recent Service of Remembrance and Reflection put on by Canadian Baptist Ministries on the first National Day For Truth And Reconciliation on September 30th. The speakers were all indigenous Jesus-followers from our Canadian Baptist family, including residential school survivors. Here is Erica's reflection:
As most of you are aware, this past September 30th was the first year of observing the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It is intended as a day of reflection and education, a day where we honour and remember the children who were lost and those who are survivors of residential schools. We also think of their families and the communities that were affected by this tragic and dark history.
During this day, I had the opportunity to watch (with 322 other people) the Canadian Baptist Ministries’ service of remembrance and reflection. If you didn't get the chance to watch the service, it contained stories from Pastor Gordon and Mary Jan Petawabano (who both spent time in residential schools), a reflection of why this day is so important from Dr. Danny Zacharias, music from Dr. Cheryl Bear, as well as some reflections from other guests.
I was struck by the powerful stories told and the deep emotions and lasting effects the residential schools had on these people. I'd like to share a bit of these stories.
Mary Jane was taken away from her parents, community, and culture when she was only six years old. She would then spend the next seven years attending a residential school only to be allowed back home for two months during the summer. She recalled that she no longer fit in when coming home. She was a stranger to her people, and her people were strange to her. She did not belong; she felt lost. Her father died when she was thirteen years old, and she felt as though she had been robbed of a relationship with him, only knowing him two months of the year. It was only later in life when her own daughter asked her why she did not share this part of her life, why she did not speak of it, that she realized that she was carrying around this hurt. It was affecting how she was bringing up her children, how she connected with them. She recognized that she needed to deal with this past part of her life.
While sharing her story, she said something that really stood out to me. She said, "Everyone needs to know the truth and hear our stories. Once we accept the truth and walk in the truth and learn to forgive each other, we can be reconciled as well. And enjoy everything that God has for us"
I think that is such a powerful statement and it goes to show how important this day is and how listening to stories like this is essential. Without sharing her story, she could not heal, unable to move forward and enjoy all that God had planned for her life.
After this, her husband Gordon had a time to share his story. It had many similarities and was just as emotional and powerful as he described his anger toward his father, who had been the chief for 13 years. He believed that his father should have had the power to keep him home and did not understand why his father sent him to the residential schools for five years. It was only later that he understood his father did not understand what had happened in these schools. The biggest part of Gordon's story, like Mary Jane’s, revolved around the continued effects this experience had on him and how he connected with his own children. He pushed them away as he perceived his father doing to him as a child.
Both of these stories really highlight the lasting effects of residential schools. This is not some tragic event that happened and is now done and over with. The hurt and pain caused by these schools have had an expanding negative effect, spreading from generation to generation.
Dr. Danny Zacharius, a professor of New Testament studies at ADC, responded to the question, "what is important about this date." He began with a quote from Christ Green "The future is nothing but what we don't and do tell about the past, and the future will be as good as the telling of our past is truthful."
He spoke about how history shapes us as individuals, as a community and as a society. We tend to look at life as linear, but in fact, life is cyclical. The earth revolves around the sun; the seasons pass and come around again and again. This day of remembering is significant in that we are forgetful people. He notes that as a mostly individualist society, we especially forget things that happen outside of our lifetime, but we are called to remember.
This idea of remembering is something that, as Christians, we should be familiar with. We look in the Old Testament and see how the Israelites are told to remember certain things - things that happened way before they were born. They were not events that happened to them directly, but it became about them when they remembered. Even in the New Covenant, we are called to remember the holy days. We participate in communion, which is an embodied act of remembrance.
So why is September 30th, the day of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, important? What are we called to do on this day? Well, first, we can educate ourselves. Take some time and read through the Truth and reconciliation commission's calls to action HERE, and if you want to learn more, you can work through a free online course, "Walking in a good way with our indigenous Neighbours."
The second thing we can do is listen to the stories. Stories like Gordon and Mary Jane. If anything, being a part of this service reminded me of the importance of not avoiding these hard truths and creating an atmosphere where these hard truths are not silenced and people are free to share their stories and pain. Because only when we acknowledge the truth, as hard as it may be, and are willing to listen to those who were hurt, can healing and reconciliation happen.
Danny noted that he was reminded of the story of Cain and Abel in which God says that Abels's blood cried out to him from the ground. He stressed that Injustice is not forgotten by those who were affected. Family, the community, God and the land remember, and we too are called to remember.
If you have time, I will leave you with a link to Dr. Cheryl Bear's song "Residential School Song," which she performed during this service.
Blessings, Erica
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