Teaching House

 We had a Teaching House early 2023. April 3-5, we met as Indigenous clergy at the Elk Ridge resort near Montreal Lake First Nation. The people encourage me.  As a kid, I was always trying to fit in, trying to be who I thought Canadian society wanted me to be. I was pretty sure that the people did not want me to be First Nations; they wanted me to be something else, something they liked, or what I thought they liked. Maybe this pressure is something everyone feels. I wonder if this is what we call institutional racism. Canada declared war on Indigenous culture and language, but then I joined these efforts to destroy my identity and try to be something pale, opaque with no substance, just be who people wanted me to be. But sitting with my people and listening to the desire to live and be who the Creator made us to be within the Church made me see again the importance of being me. Being who the Creator made us to be is self-determination. I think Indigenous identity, community, and self-determination are all connected. 

 

Maybe because our continuation as a people is threatened by the powers that be, or at least Rupert Ross writes in Dancing with a Ghost, that we wonder about our continuation as a people. I am not sure if this is true for all Indigenous people; I can only determine what I think, and I sometimes I wonder about our future. Perhaps it is only my continuation that I worry about, or maybe it is living in the city that makes me wonder what will happen. Whatever the case, being with Indigenous clergy for those days made me believe in a future that the Creator has made for us. It reminded me of who we are and that our territories are part of a good land. And hearing prayers in my grandfather's language was, to borrow a phrase from Neil McLeod's Cree Narrative Memory, like "hearing the land welcome me home." 

 

"Do this and you will live"

Luke 10:25-37

25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus.^* ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ²⁶He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ ²⁷He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’ ²⁸And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’

29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ ³⁰Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ³²So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. ³⁴He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵The next day he took out two denarii,^* gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.” ³⁶Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ ³⁷He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’

The gospel brought a couple of ideas together for me. First, I had been thinking about Descartes and his dividing the material world from the inner world of reflection. His conclusion, "I think, therefore I am," has led us to believe that certainty lies in our mind and we are thinking beings. Descartes then believes real knowledge is achieved through reason and the science or material world, he leaves to someone else. Thus a divide between the inner private world and the public world. This is where religious people seem to live as well.

So the young religious lawyer (I assume he is young but maybe not), thought to use his mind to test Jesus about the religious law. Jesus' responses to the lawyer's questions point out that the problem is not in how the man thinks, he knows the right answer. The problem is in his engagement with the public world. While the religious leaders are worried, I am presuming, about keeping their religious law, the Samaritan, and by extension Jesus is engaging the real world. I wonder if we have become a religion of fanciful thinkers but our heart is far from the public good. Maybe we need to bring these things together somehow, someway. 

Self-isolation a bit like monastic disciplines

It has been almost a week since we started working from home and moved to self-isolation because of the threat of Covid-19. At this point in Richmond community spread has not kicked in to the degree seen in some other countries, but I imagine that is just a matter of time. So we are being asked to self-isolate. If you look at seclusion as a kind of spiritual discipline, them perhaps the charity of the act will help us find the resources to follow this advice.

It is difficult for social animals, such as us, to stay inside. It is particularly hard for extroverts, or so it seems to me, an introvert. I find strength in knowing that my sacrifice is helping to prevent the spread of a very nasty virus. I was thinking that this time of self-isolation can be seen in some ways like the monastic movement who went into the desert to battle invisible forces for the rest of society. Sometimes people think that the brothers and sisters who went into isolation in the wilderness were doing it to escape society that they believed was completely corrupt. If this were true they would be more like the doomsday folks who hide in their bunkers. This, however, misses the point of the ministry of prayer and intersession is all about. Christ had taught to go into seclusion to pray. Don't make a big show of your religious devotion (Matthew 6:5). Do this for sake of others. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down their life for someone else (John 15). So the monastic movement when into seclusion for the sake of gospel, for the sake of the world.

Also, those who chose to go into isolation for prayer, where going to where Christ had gone, to the place one went to fight the enemy, into the wilderness or the desert, into seclusion. They were doing battle, not against society, but for society. They did this by following Christ into the wilderness to do battle with an invisible enemy. I think that you get the analogy I am trying to draw here. We are being asked to intercede for our society by restricting out freedoms by choice.

This is difficulty to do in the city. Yesterday when I drove to my locked down building to retrieve a few items I needed to work at home, I saw many people continuing to gather at beaches in Vancouver. No doubt each person had a good reason why they needed to take the chance that community spread would not be happening in their midst. I would imagine each was trying to massage the emotional pain of staying home alone or being confined to their apartment or home, in the city. I am not trying to judge why people continue to defy social distancing suggestions merely trying to point out possible reasons and ways to find emotional energy to self-isolate. We are entering into a time of seclusion for the sake of society. To intercede for those who must continue to go to work and provide needed essential services. To try and help out relatives and elders stay safe. We are all inextricably linked together in our world. Our actions impact everyone else around us. This is an awesome responsibility. Perhaps, this might give us strength to embrace what we are called to do for the sake of one another.

Now it seems fitting to conclude with two observations. One by Robert Frost's poem, "A tuft of flowers" "'[People] work together,' I told him from the heart, 'whether they work together or apart.'" The second is the concluding statement from many in the First Nations community, something that is evident from all that is happening, "all my relatives."
 

Visiting the Nissga’a

I had a chance to visit the Nass valley. It is a beautiful part of the world. The soaring mountains and the Nass river, the source of life. The ice was flowing in the river with some of it hanging up on gravel bars as the tide goes out. We had come to try and meet with some folks and try and share encouragement with one another. I was traveling with ArchBishop Mark MacDonald, who is one of the most wonderful individuals I have ever known. He lifts my heart to worship Christ. I think this exemplifies the task of the leaders of the Church. Yes, it is true that the bishop is called to keep the faith, which on occasions seems to imply that they must argue against certain views which threaten the clarity of the gospel, but they are called or maybe sent to keep pointing us to Christ. All that is around us in this pristine part of creation pushes me to understand how small I am on the earth. The bishop reminds me that for small ones like me, Christ has come, and will come again. So this morning as I sit in a B and B in Laxgalts’ap, on the Nass, I worship Christ.

The Teaching House

I am in the land of the Nisga’a for the next few days. I am hear to talk with the people that attended the “Teaching House” event that we held last November. It is great to hear how the Church continues among this Nation. They adopted Christian faith because it seemed to parallel their own law that they believe the creator gave to them. Indigenous people in Canada embraced the gospel because they recognized the creator in the person and teachings of Jesus Christ. They had a kind of “Old Testament” as Steven Charleston calls it. An experience of knowing Creator before the coming of the Europeans. One of several eagles that I saw in the Nass river. Indigenous people continue to see the work of the creator in and around them.

My Late Father's birthday

January 7 is celebrated as Christmas for the Eastern Church, but it was also my dad's birthday. In our family we were not big on birthday celebrations. When we were kids my mother would make a big celebration with cake and games. When we got older there wasn't usually a cake but she would throw a pair of jeans on our bed and say, "happy birthday." I followed the tradition and would usually try to call around birthdays and say, "happy birthday."

My dad has been gone for a bit over a year and I was really missing him the last few days. It is around holidays and birthdays that we often miss our departed loved ones. It reminded me of Tolkien's character, Frodo at the end of the The Lord of the Rings, would get an ache in  his shoulder and his mood would darken on the anniversary of their fateful quest. A fantasy story but it reminds me of the life lesson that memory is powerful. It can shape our mood and we can even feel its effects in our body. So I remember my father, and the power of his memories give me resolve to live up to who he was. When I face the West in the evening, I remember my ancestors and ask for wisdom to walk in a good way on the circle of the earth. A gift of memory from my dad, on Orthodox Christmas, this January 7, 2019.

Christmas Time

Elaine and I spent the evening with our daughter, Jenny and her husband, Sean and our grandchildren, Kyren and Lily. We ate and read the Christmas story and spent time together as a family. Of course there are presents, but Kyren reminded us a few days earlier that we don’t need presents just our family. The creator sent his son to redeem us when we had gone astray. Angels told of the glad tidings that a child was given and he would be called Immanuel, God with us. It is a day to reflect upon the goodness of God and his love expressed toward us. The saviour has come to draw us back to him. Christmas time we remember to turn back to the one who made us and loved us.