Greed, Fines, & the Bread of Life

 

                                                                   Kennedy Paisz

With the bread we need for today, feed us.

In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.

For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and for ever.
Amen.

New Zealand Prayer Book -- Lord's Prayer paraphrase 

Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 

They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

John 6:32-35 NRSV

Hear this, you who trample on the needy,
    and bring to ruin the poor of the land,
5 saying, “When will the new moon be over
    so that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath,
    so that we may offer wheat for sale?
We will make the ephah smaller and the shekel heavier
    and practice deceit with false balances,
6 buying the poor for silver
    and the needy for a pair of sandals
    and selling the sweepings of the wheat.”

Amos 8: 4-6 NRSVue

A few months ago I shared with you that Ruth was invited to do a bread-making session with Sunday School kids at Trenton United and it was a big success. There were 15 children of all ages and they loved the whole process, as did the adults who helped out. Ruth brought the rising loaves home, baked them, and then brought the bread back the next week for communion. She had baked small loaves in advance so each child went home with a loaf. 

I've been thinking about bread for two reasons in recent days. I heard a piece about the perils of highly processed foods, including the quasi-bread which is often on store shelves. Rather than the traditional grains to make flour, which rises and is then baked, mass-produced bread is more of a flour slurry with lots of sugar. 

We've also heard that Canada Bread was fined $50 million for price-fixing, deceitfully driving up the cost for a product which is supposed a staple in our diet. It was a matter of greed on the part of lots of participants, but what's new when it comes to food prices? The fingers seem to be on the scales even in the worst of times. 

The connection between physical hunger and satisfying spiritual hunger has always been strong in our Judeo/Christian tradition, as you can see in the passages above. 

Since the Canada Bread fine there have been questions about where this money will go, and some suggest that it should be distributed amongst food banks and other providers of support for the marginalized. Why not? It would be a drop in the bucket of the federal coffers but would do a lot of good in these programs and ministries.

I'll give another shout-out to Cob's Bakery in Belleville which provides bread products to various charitable groups in the city. We do a pick-up once a month, early on Saturday mornings, and we are so impressed by the generosity and goodwill of the owner and staff. 

Artists, Prophetic Beauty, & the Vatican

 

Issei Watanabe, a Japanese cellist, plays a cello made from wood recuperated from migrant boats abandoned near Lampedusa, Italy, before a meeting between Pope Francis and more than 200 artists in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican June 23, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

“I believe the world will be saved by beauty.” 

 Prince Lev Nikolyaevich Myshkin in The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky

There are times when I'm convinced that the world would be a better place if the Roman Catholic church was shuttered after a giant garage sale to dispose of assets. There is the terrible history of a patriarchal system which declares its leader infallible. There is the persistent misogyny, and colonial complicity, and rampant sexual abuse. I could go on.

And yet...there are many aspects of Roman Catholicism which are meaningful to me and the current Pope, Francis, keeps offering rays of hope in the darkness. His compassion for the poor and dispossessed, and his willingness to confess the sins of the church are important. His Laudato Si encyclical on the environment is simply the best analysis of the Christian response to the climate crisis of any denomination. 

The RC's have long understood that the creative arts are an expression of praise for the Creator in a way that Protestants seldom appreciate. Often critics point out the vast wealth represented in the architecture and art of the Catholic church and that in a world of need this is obscene. While I understand the outrage I also appreciate the legacy of beauty through the centuries to the present day.

Recently Francis held a symposium on the arts at the Vatican, within one of humanity's iconic artistic masterpieces, The Sistine Chapel. He included artists, musicians, performers, from a variety of disciplines, even some who have been considered sacrilegious  Here is a portion of a press release from American Catholic bishops: 

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Under Michelangelo's frescoed ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, Pope Francis told more than 200 musicians, writers, poets and other artists to be like prophets, pursuing true beauty and using their art to shake up the societies where they live.

Artists and prophets "can see things both in depth and from afar" while "peering into the horizon and discerning deeper realities," he said June 23. "In doing so, you are called to reject the allure of that artificial, superficial beauty so popular today and often complicit with economic mechanisms that generate inequality."

The audience with an international group of artists marked 50 years St. Paul VI inaugurated the modern and contemporary art collection in the Vatican Museums by celebrating Mass in the Sistine Chapel with artists from around the world.

Pope Francis told the artists to distance themselves from depicting a "cosmetic" form of beauty "that conceals rather than reveals" and to instead create art that "strives to act as a conscience critical of society, unmasking truisms."

"Like the biblical prophets, you confront things that at times are uncomfortable; you criticize today's false myths and new idols, its empty talk, the ploys of consumerism, the schemes of power," Pope Francis said.

There have been many experiences in my lifetime where I felt an upwelling of my spirit and a sense of the Spirit of the living God when in art galleries, cathedrals and other sacred spaces. Thank God for a religious tradition which has honoured and encouraged the arts. 

Pride Month & Recovering Bigots

 

For many Christians, Pride Month is a perfect opportunity to workout one’s confession and repentance muscles. A friend in Denver sent me this photo of a “recovering bigot” making flesh-on-flesh amends with the children of God he once maligned Jonathan Merritt

Let the dreams we dream be larger Than we've ever dreamed before 

Let the dream of Christ be in us Open every door! (Refrain) 

Refrain: Draw the circle wide, draw it wider still.

 Let this be our song: no one stands alone.

Standing side by side, draw the circle, draw the circle wide...

LGBTQ2S+ Pride Month is almost at an end, so in a couple of days we'll take down our flag which is highly visible driving onto our court. We weren't sure whether we should take it down each night because of the vandalism experienced by many homeowners and institutions. Of course, some municipalities and school boards have chosen not to display any Pride symbols but many others have courageously gone ahead despite opposition by a vocal and sometimes belligerent minority.

In certain communities religious groups have led the push-back against Pride displays so I'm glad our congregation, Trenton United, did fly the flag once again, as have so many other United Churches. Trenton United was also the only congregation to have a table at Pride in the Park on the day of the Belleville Pride parade.

I was moved by the Twitter post by Jonathan Merritt with the photo of the "recovering bigot" offering hugs at a Pride parade. And by his comment about exercising confession and repentance muscles.

For those of us of a certain age, bigotry toward LGBTQ2S+ persons was so culturally ingrained that it didn't show up on our moral radar as such. Gay jokes were everywhere, homosexuality was illegal in many places (it still is in lots of countries) and living openly as a LGBTQ person was rare. Christianity was at the forefront of the prejudice and used sketchy biblical analysis to support this.

Was I bigoted? Without a doubt, and I was in my 20's before the shift in my perception began. Even then it took years before I came to a place of understanding and acceptance which was truly different than my religious upbringing. I've noted before that we raised our three children with openly gay persons in our circle of friends and their outlook was always more progressive than ours as we sought to dispose of our baggage.

Am I a recovering bigot? I would say yes, because that baggage may be largely gone but there is still the occasional "carry-on." Lots of us deal with this, including LGBTQ persons.

Not long before I retired from congregational ministry a gay couple joined our church after attending a memorial in our sanctuary for the people slaughtered in a club in Florida. I talked regularly with one of the two men who was in his early 70's and he shared his story of growing up as a Christian in the US, marrying a woman and having children. He struggled with his sexual orientation for decades and spent years in therapy. He loved his family and his congregation and so dealt with self-loathing and bigotry toward himself. He finally came to a place of knowing that God loved him as he was, but admitted that he still had his moments of struggle.

I hope we can be recovering bigots in different areas of our lives as we grow in Christ and "draw the circle wide" and that our confession and repentance muscles will get the workout they need.

The Rainbow, Icelandic artist Ruri

The Hajj as a Muslim Pilgrimage of Inclusion

 The Islamic pilgrimage festival known as The Haj, or Hajj, is underway in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. After several years of first symbolic, then reduced numbers of pilgrims because of the COVID pandemic this year's Haj will likely be the largest ever with 2.5 million participants. This religious event is also a remarkable logistical challenge. 

Hearing about the revitalized Haj got me thinking about reading a biography of Malcolm Little who became known as Malcolm X. When Malcolm was a young man he turned to a life of crime which resulted in a prison sentence. While in prison he converted to a militant offshoot of the Muslim religion known as the Nation of Islam. After his release he became increasingly involved in this movement which described white people as the Devil and certainly did not espouse the non-violent approach of Martin Luther King. Some journalists set out to portray Malcolm X and MLK as adversaries, an exaggeration of their perspectives. 

                                                                                        Malcolm X

In the 1960's Malcolm became disillusioned with the Nation of Islam and began to study with Sunni Muslims, searching out a more traditional understanding of the Islamic religion. In 1964 he travelled to Saudi Arabia for the Haj, the pilgrimage which is one of the five pillars of Islam and this experience was transformative:

During the past seven days of this holy pilgrimage, while undergoing the rituals of the hajj [pilgrimage], I have eaten from the same plate, drank from the same glass, slept on the same bed or rug, while praying to the same God—not only with some of this earth's most powerful kings, cabinet members, potentates and other forms of political and religious rulers —but also with fellow‐Muslims whose skin was the whitest of white, whose eyes were the bluest of blue, and whose hair was the blondest of blond...

His departure from the Nation of Islam and his choice to embrace a more inclusive form of the Muslim religion were significant factors in his assassination in 1965 at the age of 39. 

As some of you know, I am fascinated by the peregrinations or pilgrimages of different religions and those by other creatures which we term as migrations. In his late teens our son, Isaac, undertook the 800+ kilometre Camino Christian pilgrimage through France and Spain, as have others we know. 

 Non-Muslims are not welcome in Mecca during the Hajj. Still I feel we should respect different forms of spiritual quest which challenge and awaken the participants. 

Giving a Hoot About Owls & Creation

 

Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry come to you.

Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress.
Incline your ear to me; answer me speedily in the day when I call... 

...I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,
    like a little owl of the waste places.
 I lie awake; I am like a lonely bird on the housetop.

Psalm 102:1-2, 6-7 NRSVue  

Any group of owls seen travelling together or behaving in the same manner as another is described as a parliament of owls.

My kids know my interests so it was a pleasant surprise which wasn't actually all that surprising when I received Jennifer Ackerman's latest book, What an Owl Knows, for Father's Day.  Ackerman is a marvellous, accessible writer in the great realm of birds and this book is blowing the mind of this codger.

For most of us owls are elusive and mysterious, in part because they are skilled nocturnal hunters, although not exclusively at night. They can be found on all the continents except Antarctica, in a multitude of sizes, and survive in nearly every climate. One species is small and swift enough to pick off a hummingbird while another is large enough to hunt fawns. 

                                                               Harry Potter and Hedwig

Owls are the only species of bird with front-facing eyes and the concave dish of their faces may have multiple densities and textures of adjustable feathers to aid in catching the sounds of prey. We may think of owls as solitary, as the psalmist suggests, but they can come together. Because owls are considered wise,in lore a collective is called a parliament, so we need to find a different term for Canadian owls. 

Of course, ornitholigists will remind us that these are evolutionary adaptations and I have no trouble accepting this. At the same time owls are a wonder of Creator and Creation for me. I'm content to live with the tension between evolution and creation. I know that I've seen Great Grey and Great Horned owls, Snowy and Barred owls, sometimes close at hand. I've seen others I couldn't identify and they may have been other species among the eleven found in Ontario. It's always a thrill and a delight, and as I delve further into What An Owl Knows I do want to see more. 

                                                         Snowy Owl in Flight -- Jim Zuckerman 

Water & St. Jean Baptiste Day

 

                                                       

John the Baptist -- detail from illustration in the St. John's Bible --Donald Jackson 

Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?

By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?

 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

Romans 6: 1b- 5 NRSVue (today's epistle reading) 

Yesterday was St. Jean Baptiste Day, a "national" holiday in the province of Quebec. The occasion celebrates the birth of John the Baptist, who baptized his cousin Jesus in the Jordan River as a public recognition and inauguration of his ministry. It really is a curious remnant of the Roman Catholic culture which once dominated what is now a largely secular Quebec.

In Spanish June 24th is San Juan Bautista Day and in parts of the southern United States it is still observed as a religious holiday. I've been thinking about a seminar I attended more than a decade ago at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico called Water and the Baptismal Life led by Dr. Larry Rasmussen, a leading eco-faith theologian. Some of you will know that I've revisited these few days a number of  times in this blog and I appreciate your patience. It was thought-provoking at the time and has continued to shape my spiritual journey along the way. 

Ohkay Owingeh 

One day we climbed aboard a bus for something of a class trip to the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo which was formerly known as San Juan Pueblo and is situated on the Rio Grande River. Even though this Indigenous community has reaffirmed its Indigenous heritage there continues to be a strong Roman Catholic presence. We attended a stirring display of traditional dance but after attending mass we also processed with the priest to the Rio Grande where a bucket was lowered into the murky waters. This water was sprinkled on those who wanted to reaffirm their baptismal faith and I was one of them. 

We live in a time when many parts of the world are either parched or inundated with water due to the climate catastrophe, and degraded water quality has become a massive concern. An article in The Guardian asks whether drought could become the next pandemic. We simply cannot exist without H20. 

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2023/jun/15/drought-is-on-the-verge-of-becoming-the-next-pandemic?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

We could reclaim St. John the Baptist Day as a moment to affirm the sacredness of this fundamental element of life.  As Paul's words from Romans reminds us, John's baptism of Jesus gave us the sacrament of initiaton and rebirth which is central to our Christian faith. These days baptisms are few and far between in most aging United Church congregations but why shouldn't we regularly celebrate the living water, the welling up to eternal life which is the Creator's gift to us in Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit?

Sisters and Brothers,

let us celebrate God’s gift of grace       

given to us in the sacrament of baptism.

There is one body

and one Spirit;

we have one hope in Christ.

There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

one God, Creator of us all.

Out of the water of baptism

we rise with new life,

forgiven, renewed, and one with Christ,

members of Christ’s body.      

Ephesians 4:4-6 Celebrate God's Presence: A Book of Services 

Baptism of Christ -- Vladimir Zagitov

Just Because I'm Paranoid...

 

This humorous saying has been attributed to everyone from Kurt Cobain to Joseph Heller to Woody Allen...hmm, a bunch of men. 

We're fortunate if we get through life without having moments or perhaps long periods where we feel beset by others and because of anxiety or depression we feel that it's us against our adversaries. For some mental health issues result in a lifetime of crippling  paranoia. Where do we turn in these dark moments? 

This week the daily lectionary readings offer two psalms, 86 and 13, which acknowledge that there are times in life when we are overwhelmed yet both call out for the strength and steadfast love which God can provide. 

I remember coming upon one of these psalms years ago when some church folk were determined to make my life hell. Many of the finest people I've ever met have been in congregations I've served. And sad to say, so have some of the cruelest and most devious. Often the latter were also cowardly so they weren't directly confrontational. While I learned to shrug off much of this, there were times when the nastiness "messed with my mind" even though it was always a small group or an individual who was responsible while the rest of the congregation was blissfully ignorant of what was happening. The whispers and barbs of a few were amplified in my heart and mind and it robbed me of joy and well-being. 

 I can remember where I was when I read that psalm and the reassurance I derived from reading it, realizing that for thousands of years individuals have struggled with the "ruffians" around them, and the hope that there was a greater power, a loving presence to carry them through. 

I hope that you aren't feeling beset or overwhelmed today but if you are, may the peace and love of Christ be with you. 

O God, the insolent rise up against me;
    a band of ruffians seeks my life,
    and they do not set you before them.
15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me;
    give your strength to your servant;
    save the child of your maidservant.
17 Show me a sign of your favor,
    so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame,
    because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Psalm 86:14-17 NRSVue

Truth & Reconciliation in Norway

 

Influenced by Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the 700-page final report for Norway's parliament documents the history of Norwegian contact with Indigenous Sami communities and other minority groups going back to the 14th century. (John Last/CBC)

Yesterday I wrote about National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada and if you followed the reporting you saw reminders of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which produced a series of recommendations. The United Church of Canada participated in this process because of its involvement with what were called Residential Schools even though they were largely destructive institutions of assimilation for Indigenous children.

Earlier in June there was a report with recommendations from the Truth Commission of Norway regarding the “Norwegianisation policy” refers to policies pursued by the authorities to assimilate Sámi and other minorities into Norwegian society. When I was a kid the Sami were called Laplanders, a term which is considered offensive by the Sami.

For about 100 years from about 1850, the official Norwegian policy was that Sámi and Kvens should be assimilated into Norwegian society, in part by discouraging the use of languages other than Norwegian. The report identifies forced relocations, racial abuse, languages and heritage lost. There are recommendations of ways the government could right those wrongs by boosting support for the cultures it once actively suppressed.

Does this sound familiar? The Norwegian government looked to Canada's Truth and Reconciliation process in creating its framework. I do hope they are better at implementing the recommendations. 

This news brought to mind the gripping and bleak novel The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, about events in the Finnmark region of Norway 400 years ago. John Cunningham, a Scottish nobleman and priest was sent to address what were considered heretical practices including using Sami runes alongside Christian forms of worship. There were a total of 52 trials and many women were burned at the stake as a result. Cunningham's primary target was the Sámi people  but hundreds of other Norwegian women were also executed.

This is soul-wrenching as once again we are reminded that supposedly civilized and Christian cultures engaged in systematic efforts to extinguish traditional Indigenous cultures around the world. As a life-long follower of Jesus my faith is regularly shaken by the harm done by religion organized to do harm rather than good. I won't relinquish my faith, but sometimes I want to. 

Christ have mercy. 

National Indigenous Peoples Day 2023

When we drive through the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory only a few kilometres east of us I try to be aware that there is an vibrant Indigenous culture close at hand. Tyendinaga is probably best known to outsiders as the home of cheaper gas, cigarettes, and marijuana products which is unfortunate because there is strong sense of community rooted in the Mohawk tradition. 

On this National Indigenous Peoples Day its important to be aware of the First Nations communities where we live and consider the often fraught relationship between Christianity and Indigenous spirituality. There are churches at Tyendinaga, although I'm not aware of a United Church presence. We know that different denominations were complicit in the program to extinguish Indigenous cultures in this country yet there is still a Christian witness today, often honouring traditional spirituality. 

The Right Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne, 44th Moderator of The United Church of Canada

Credit: Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne

The current Moderator of the United Church is Carmen Lansdowne and she is an Indigenous person, originally from British Columbia. Here is a paragraph from her online bio and the link to her message for this day: 

Ordained in 2007, the Rev. Dr. Lansdowne is only the second Indigenous person to be elected Moderator, following the Very Rev. Stan McKay, who served as Moderator 1992‒1994. A member of the Heiltsuk First Nation, she was born in Alert Bay, British Columbia, and has been a lifelong member of the United Church. She is committed to an Indigenous way of being in the world.

https://united-church.ca/news/moderators-message-national-indigenous-peoples-day-2023

 Published On: May 11, 2023

Below is a United Church press release about a Mohawk language translation of the Bible as well and an explanation of the United Church Crest with the "all my relations" motto in Mohawk: 

A much-anticipated project will be on bookshelves this fall.

After recognizing the need to preserve the Mohawk language, the idea to produce a Mohawk translation of the Bible was proposed. Preserving language enables future generations to engage in their rich culture in a rounded and essential way. Without understanding dialect-specific phrases and expressions, the vital wisdom of a culture can be lost.

Those partnering on the Mohawk Language Bible have taken great care and effort in ensuring proper language interpretation and translation. Working in agreement with the Mohawk Nation, collaborators have taken the time to listen to each other and learn in order to move the project forward.

A dedication of the Bible is set to take place on September 9, 2023, in Kanesatake, QC. The translation is expected to be available in hardcopy, digital copy, and audiobook formats.

Your gifts to Mission & Service allow projects to preserve language and culture to flourish.

In August of 2012, at the 41st General Council held in Ottawa, Ontario, the United Church of Canada acknowledged the presence and spirituality of Aboriginal peoples in the United Church by revising the church’s crest. The crest changes included incorporating the four colours of the Aboriginal medicine wheel and adding the Mohawk phrase “Akwe Nia’Tetewá:neren”, which means “all my relations”.

The Troubled Waters for the World's Refugees

 We pray for the countries and regions that have hosted refugees. Knowing that refugee camps can be overcrowded, we pray for the continued safety of the camps and offer our thanks to those who work toward providing the basics of shelter, food, health care, and education.

We pray for refugees who have held onto hope while facing death. And we pray for the millions of refuges around the world who have fled their homes in search of basic human needs. We give thanks for their strong faith and pray that they will find the security and stability we all seek.

Gracious and loving God,Come, hear our prayers.

from a United Church of Canada Prayer for Refugees 

Until a couple of days ago I wasn't aware that tourist trips via submersible vessels to the wreck of the Titanic were possible. At a quarter of a million US dollars per guest this wasn't going to make it onto my vacation list. It was the news that a submersible with several people aboard went out of contact on Sunday and there is still no evidence of its whereabouts. A massive search is underway with involvement from both the Canadian and American coastguard. We can pray that there is a good outcome but time is running out for recovery. 

I thought about this situation when I saw that this is World Refugee Day. So many refugees/migrants/asylum seekers undertake  journeys across perilous waters in the hope of a better life. They have often used their life savings to pay unscrupulous smugglers and the outcome is regularly deadly. 

Just three weeks ago an estimated 700 asylum seekers, most without flotation devices, drowned in the Mediterranean in a matter of a few days.This was the deadliest week since 2015 when the losses at sea galvanized Canadians into sponsoring thousands of Syrian refugees. A few days ago another boat capsized resulting in the deaths of 70 or more of those aboard. Yet these terrible incidents don't get nearly the media coverage in North America as the disappearance of the Titanic submersible. 

While smugglers have been arrested,  those children, women, men can't be brought back to life. Their desperation contributed to their demise, but so did greed, and the growing hard-heartedness of European nations. Greece has borne the brunt of the influx of migrants and as a result have become increasingly unwilling to receive more. 

The rescue ship Sea-Watch 4, purchased by a crowdfund led by the Evangelical Church in Germany,  operates in the Mediterranean Sea to help migrants attempting to reach Europe from North Africa.

Greece has been fining and threatening prison sentences for rescue organizations, a bizarre tactic against those who are responding to the crisis. Back in January a Greek court dropped charges against 24 immigrant rescue volunteers including 27-year-old Syrian swimmer Sara Mardini, one of two sisters who were the subject of the docudrama film, The Swimmers. This is a film well worth watching. 

There are a number of Christian rescue teams operating in the Mediterranean, and we can keep them in our prayers. We can pray for governments around the world, including our own, that there will be a willingness to accept those seeking shelter from the ravaging effects of war, climate change, and persecution based in religion and gender. 

Jesus Was a Refugee

Jesus was a refugee.

That’s how the story goes,

fleeing with his mom and dad

in the night from his foes.

 

Newborn in his parents’ arms,

he left nativity,

on the run, in search of peace,

far from captivity.

 

Refugees—the same today,

all yearning for new life,

leaving countries so war-torn,

escaping from the strife.

 

Refugees—we welcome them

as they begin anew.

We show hospitality

and love in what we do.

 —John Wesley Oldham #7727. Metre is roughly 7676.

Juneteenth, Sombre and Celebratory

When every heart joins
every heart
and together yearns for liberty,
That's when we'll be free!
When every hand joins
every hand
and together moulds our destiny,
That's when we'll be free.
Any hour
any day,
the time soon will come when
[all] will live in dignity...

Hymn to Freedom -- Oscar Peterson 

 I wished Isaac, our son, a Happy Ike-teenth this morning on the occasion of his birthday. This was a Dad Joke allusion to Juneteenth, a hugely important anniversary in the United States. I'll share the opening paragraphs of an co-authored opinion piece in the Washington Post from a year ago. You'll see that one of the writers is a pastor, a reminder that the issues of Black emancipation and equality have always been spiritual as well as political.  

Opal Lee, an educator and activist known as “the grandmother of Juneteenth,” is a board member of Unity Unlimited. DeForest “Buster” Soaries is pastor emeritus of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens, N.J., and a board member of the Stand Together Foundation. They are co-chairs of the Heal America movement, which is launching the “Summer of Healing” on June 19.

Juneteenth is more than a holiday. It is not just a commemoration of the end of slavery. It is a day that celebrates America’s incredible capacity to self-correct by applying the timeless principles at our country’s core. Yet as we prepare to mark Juneteenth’s second year as a federal holiday, we have to ask: Will we let this celebration fall prey to the division and distraction that are tearing America down? Or will we embrace its true meaning, commit to ending the injustices that surround us, and ultimately lift America up?

By all rights, Juneteenth should be a day of great unity. When the enslaved people of Galveston, Tex., were told of their freedom on June 19, 1865, the promise of America became much more real and attainable. It was hardly the end of all injustice, but it was the end of one of the country’s original injustices. That’s why generations of Black Americans made June 19 into a long-standing holiday. What could be more American than remembering the forward march of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?...

...Those who made Juneteenth what it is today would be the first to say this holiday is not an event; it’s an invitation.

While Juneteenth is an American commemoration the principles apply here in Canada as well. I've included a verse from Hymn to Freedom, written by Canadian jazz great Oscar Peterson. It was sung often during the Civil Rights Movement in the US and to this day. 

                                Martin Luther King in Windsor, Ontario on Emancipation Day, 1956