newsy bits and Residential Schools Conference

It's been an eventful few weeks!

In a few days, I will start my internship at an inner city agency that offers free counselling.  I'm pretty thrilled that this opportunity came along.  I've been applying for jobs for so long, I almost don't know what to do with myself now that I actually got one!  In a strange twist of fate, I had two back to back interviews one frosty Wednesday, and was offered both jobs by the end of the following week.  Even in the excitement, I am a bit hesitant about working again - am I ready?  Ready to be a counsellor, a helper in the lives of others when I so often feel like I'm a mess?!  If my academics, my practicum  - and my new boss's confidence - are any indication, I am ready. But still..... 

Our house in Sask. is back on the market.  Haven't decided if we're going private or with a realtor, but if you're a reader from there, and you know someone who wants a house... please, please, please get in touch with us!  We are so ready for this nightmare of home ownership to be over.  Poor folks at Flatlanders might be stuck with us until the end of time, we may never have the courage to sign another mortgage!

I spent two days this week at the Hidden Legacy Conference at the Winnipeg Convention Centre.  I hope to post more about the experience... for now, a few quotes ... 

From Dr. Gabor Mate - How many Canadians know about the tragic history of Jews in Eastern Europe? How many Canadians know about the tragic history of First Nations peoples in Canada?  Why is there such a discrepancy - why is the legacy hidden?  This is more than a discrepancy - its injustice.

From Elijah Harper, who opened his address with these words - I don't know how much I can say in one hour; it took me 10 days to just say NO! (with regard to the Meech Lake Accord) - The Residential School System apology issued by the Government of Canada was a small step - a very small step - we still have a long way to go before there is anything like equality, before we will be treated like full citizens of our country without restriction.  Because of the Indian Act, we were taught to feel inferior.  This is one part of the legacy.  But what about the Canadians who were taught that they are SUPERIOR - when is that part of the legacy going to be addressed?  Let us continue to work for real reconciliation, let us get the word out that inequality abounds in every arena.

From Dr. Cindy Blackstock - Teaching about Peter Henderson Bryce, a Canadian medical expert employed to investigate Residential Schools in 1922, whose findings resulted not only in being discredited in his field and fired from his job, but also were compiled into a document titled 'The Story of a National Crime' - the forerunner to John Milloy's Canadian Bestseller called ...  'A National Crime'.  Her message of reconciliation as 'not having to say you're sorry twice' was profound.  She was referring to the parallels between the current child welfare system and its failings and the former residential school policy.  She encouraged looking up (and registering support) these websites; Shannen's Dream, and Jordan's Principle.

From Judge Murray Sinclair - 'you need to know how to be who you are' - life-shaping wisdom from an Elder at Long Plain First Nation. And - most Canadians don't know the first thing about genuine reconciliation - how can they participate?

From Vernon White, Ottawa Chief of Police - Lets act differently if we want to make a difference. Success in the direction of reconciliation will involve risk, and likely some failure along the way.  We need to all be about helping Canadian understand in order to be genuinely working toward reconciliation.

From Dr. Lori Haskell - Deliberate destruction of culture, heritage, history, land, people, family, traditions = complex historical trauma.  The things we see all over our nation today - poverty, addiction, high incarceration, violence, crime - these can be directly linked to trauma.  

I heard other speakers, but thats enough for now.   

both/and

I was watching a movie recently, and this line from the soundtrack stood out; 

'you can still stop and smell the roses and be on a mission'. 

 I had/have been thinking about BOTH/AND much these days.  You know, 'both/and' as opposed to 'either/or'.  


We can BOTH be on a mission AND have the kind of life that pauses to smell the roses.  Both/And.  We don't have to choose between them. 


huh.  Might seem simple to lots of you, but it's taken me my whole life so far to come to this realization!  


Both/And.  Not either/or all the time.  

from where we've come...

(a mailing list I subscribe to advised me of this today.. thought it was a good reminder for all of us...)

Did you know . . .  January 28, marks 95 years since the Manitoba Legislature passed an amendment to the Manitoba Elections Act in 1916, giving most women in Manitoba the right to vote and run in provincial elections. Manitoba succeeded in being the first province in Canada to grant women suffrage. Women activists and their supporters spent many years dedicated to achieving this goal. In the years just prior to 1916, the movement for women’s suffrage in Manitoba was organized by the Manitoba Political Equality League, led by suffragette and political activist Nellie McClung and other noteworthy players, such as Cora Hind, Lillian Thomas, and Dr. Mary Crawford as well as many other dedicated women and men. The Manitoba Political Equality League coordinated the infamous “Women’s Parliament” a satire which turned the debate on its head and ridiculed the dangers of giving men the right to vote.

Importantly, not all women in Manitoba benefited from the 1916 amendment. It was not until 1952 that all Manitoba women gained the right to vote, when legislation changed so that Aboriginal men and women became eligible to vote in provincial elections and hold office without losing their treaty Indian status.

We look forward to a 100^th anniversary celebration of this momentous event in 2016!

praise and lament

When I read the bible lately, I read the psalms.  Sometimes I mean to read somewhere else (I'm in the midst of a distance course on the Pentateuch, I should spend time there for sure!) - but I find myself drawn over and over to the psalms.  The range of emotion that is captured there for us captivates me.  It helps me to accept - sometimes even appreciate -  the range of emotion that I frequently experience in a day.  


There is lament - wailing and weeping could accompany an audible version of the Psalms.  Deep questions about Why...?  Where...?  When, how long ...?  are recorded alongside accounts of just how distraught, abandoned, and confused the writers feel.  




There is praise - generous statements about God's faithfulness, mercy, goodness and compassion are recorded as fact and as faith.  The writers gain confidence as they remember and declare that God is indeed good. We are reminded of God's actions and presence, and we're reminded that we aren't God.  Like a child is comforted by a parents nearness, so are we comforted when we remember how God has acted throughout history and in our own lives.


The pattern of lament and hymn is repeated over and over throughout individual psalms and throughout the whole book.  Its an affirmation of emotion, of grief as well as grace.  It's an expression of sorrow touched repeatedly by faithfulness and presence.   


In my recent reading, I've become more convinced about the nature of some of our deepest human longings - feelings of abandonment and isolation lay at the core of much human grief.  And God, in his love and mercy, repeatedly responds.  He is there.  We are not alone, not abandoned.  We are sheltered, safe, protected.  We forget (lots!), and we are reminded.


  Hear me as I pray, O Lord.
      Be merciful and answer me!
  My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.”
      And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”
  Do not turn your back on me.
      Do not reject your servant in anger.
      You have always been my helper.
   Don’t leave me now; don’t abandon me,
      O God of my salvation!
  Even if my father and mother abandon me,  the Lord will hold me close.
- from psalm 27

funny on friday

Since my oldest entered junior high, I've mourned the loss of my kids... at least the kids I once had - the ones that enjoyed time spent together and didn't find it excruciating to be in the same room as me....

Every once in a long while, i am graced with my son wanting to show me funny stuff online.  Recently (after I recovered from shock and did a celebration dance), he showed me this gem.

enjoy.

Happy Friday.

new link

I found a new blog through Gordon Sinclair's column today - a blog about life in the North End.  (As you can see, I used my lunch break wisely...)

It's linked in the sidebar on the right,  under community.  it's called 'A Day in the Hood'...

while I haven't read much more than the most recent post on this blog, I did notice that there are several winnipeg blogs linked, including one that has lots of North End photos.  (The castle house on College (I think) was pictured, I'm going to go back and visit when I am avoiding writing papers have more time.)

I've been having a bit of trouble with creating links lately (new computer..), just incase you're wondering why I didn't link to the sites.

if you visit, be sure to let me know what you think.. and comment on the blogs you visit!

MLK

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is today.  

Canadians join in appreciating and honouring the legacy of a man whose 'dream' contributed to very important change, and who became synonymous with courage and justice.  When I think of Martin Luther King, I think of speaking up, of grace.  I think of having the strength to act when rage and despair would be so inviting.

I think of honesty and reflection, shared responsibility.

I think of dignity, wisdom and leadership .... in action.

“In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

With Rosa Parks - another grace filled person, even when she'd had enough