Hi everyone,
What are you up to tomorrow? Do you have any plans? June 21st, Solstice, and National Indigenous Peoples Day. Just below this musing, you will find a message from the United Church of Canada Moderator, Carmen Landsdowne encouraging us to celebrate the day with joy and intention. And below that is a link to a beautiful list of opportunities to get out and participate in indigenous-led celebrations all over the lower mainland.
The last decades in Canada have awakened many of us to a side of Canadian history that we did not learn in school. We have realized that the colonial project had an original flaw, an original arrogance, and you might even call it an original sin that attempted to destroy the culture and way of life that indigenous peoples have been living since long before colonization. I believe we are on the hard road of repentance and reconciliation, and that is a good thing.
Tomorrow we get a yearly opportunity to come together in the joy and freedom of that path. Tomorrow, all over the lower mainland, (and all over the country) there are celebrations of indigenous culture: dancing, story telling, music, food, art, spirituality. I encourage you to find a way to engage. This is a yearly opportunity to immerse ourselves in what we did not understand before. This is an opportunity to wake up to the gifts and sacred blessings of indigenous cultures and ways of life.
And I believe God’s deep desire is that we wake up, lovingly, hopefully, joyfully.
Happy National Indigenous Peoples Day.
Will