Category Archives: Orange Shirt Day

Orange is more than just a shirt: It’s a call to live the life Jesus wants us to live!

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I’m wearing an orange shirt today. This is because September 30 in Canada is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation aka Orange Shirt Day. One of the ways that this truth and reconciliation is remembered is through the wearing of an orange shirt. Even though I am far removed from Canada and haven’t lived there for any length of time for 26 years, the shirt that I put on today reminds me of two key aspects to what it means to be a follower of Jesus: Truth & Reconciliation.

I should point out before we continue that I do have skin in the game. One branch of my family has a long heritage of both First Nations and Metis peoples and I am a citizen of the Metis Nation of Saskatchewan. My Great-great-great grandfather, the Maškēkowak Rev. James Settee, spent his life ministering through Manitoba and Saskatchewan, introducing people to the good news of Jesus Christ and how that good news can help transform their lives.

If you’re a longtime reader of this blog, you’ll realize that these two words are a key aspect to how I think that we need to frame our lives and our engagement as Jesus followers. The whole framework — that we call the functional church — includes the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Values of God’s Kingdom, Loving God and Neighbour, and Truthtelling.

Orange Reminds Me of Truthtelling at Both the Political and Theological Levels

The first is through truthtelling. Jesus came not only to represent the truth, but to be the Truth. And part of this truth means we need to reflect on ourselves, on the way we think, and on the foundations we’ve built, and to find ways that God wants us to change these for the better. Unfortunately, in the history of Canada, Jesus’ followers have not always exhibited the kind of truth that Jesus would have us exhibit. (This is by no means limited to issues in Canada). One of the truths we need to face is that it’s difficult for us to tie up our political beliefs with our biblical beliefs. Sometimes we connect following Jesus to our adherence with a specific political party or political ideology. One of the truths that some of our founding fathers believed was that First Nations identity was bad and this needed to be changed into something good. Thus we have residential schools that were explicitly designed to “remove the Indian from the child.” This is all clearly documented in the reports of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and also in quotes like this:

When the school is on the reserve the child lives with its parents, who are savages; he is surrounded by savages, and though he may learn to read and write his habits, and training and mode of thought are Indian. He is simply a savage who can read and write. It has been strongly pressed on myself, as the head of the Department, that Indian children should be withdrawn as much as possible from the parental influence, and the only way to do that would be to put them in central training industrial schools where they will acquire the habits and modes of thought of white men.

John A. MacDonald, 1883

This was not merely a political failure; it was a theological one. These political ideas, in turn, fostered and were justified by a flawed theology. What do I mean by that? There are several theological flaws at play here.

Flawed Understanding of Politics and Theology

The first, of course, is that it represents a marriage between politics and theology where political theory is prioritised over theology rather than the other way around. All of life needs to be informed by scripture.

Where do we see this today? It happens when we assume a political party’s platform is synonymous with God’s will, or when we dismiss a fellow believer’s faith because they vote differently.

Humans Were Created Originally Righteous

The Bible clearly teaches us that humans were originally created good. It was only after a specific choice to rebel that sin entered into the world. I’ve written a little bit about that here. That means we cannot look at people from another part of the world who may have different cultures or different languages or different political structures or different technological levels, and say that somehow because they’re not as developed as we are, they’re not worthy of receiving the gospel of Jesus Christ on their own terms. The message of Jesus must be communicated in a way that is understandable to them. There is no command in scripture for us to transform other peoples’ cultures for them. In fact, each person in each culture is called to do their own internal transformation as their own minds are renewed.

Recognizing that truth is the foundation for repentance, healing, and reconciliation.

Imago Dei

The very first words after the creation story in Genesis 1:27 declare that all peoples on the earth are in the image of God.

“So God created humans in his image. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female.”

The very truths of the Bible condemn the attempts of others to erase languages, traditions, and identities as not only cruel, but also as a denial of Scripture itself. The Good News of Jesus Christ is not an attempt to replace a lost image, but rather a call for all peoples to be reconciled to God and, in that process, to restore and renew their own cultures in Christ, purifying and elevating what aligns with God’s truth and rejecting what does not (Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 4:24).

The truth of the Bible is far from this idea and clearly teaches that the image of God was not erased by the Fall. Genesis 9:6 plainly states human life is sacred because people still bear God’s image. James 3:9 warns against cursing others because they still reflect God’s likeness. Paul describes men and women as God’s image-bearers in the present tense (1 Corinthians 11:7). The truth runs through the whole Bible: every person, every people, every culture carries this dignity.

One tragedy of the residential schools was deeply theological because of the idea that First Nations peoples were somehow less than fully human, or less than fully made in the image of God. This has been framed as “robbing communities and individuals of their cultural and spiritual identity.”

Heaven Will be Explicitly Multicultural

The truth of the matter is that God accepts people from every tribe, language, nation, and people in the world and each of these groups will be represented in heaven. There’s this great image from Revelation 7:9-10 that sees John open his eyes to the reality of the kingdom of God that contains all of these People.

“After this I saw a great crowd of people, too many to count, from every nation, tribe, clan, and language. They were standing before the seat of honor and before the Lamb, dressed in pure white regalia, holding palm tree branches in their hands. They lifted their voices and shouted, ‘The power to set us free and make us whole belongs to the Great Spirit who sits upon the seat of honor, and to the Lamb!’” Book of the Great Revealing 7:9-10

The truth is that we need to work towards a more intentional welcoming of people from all nations into God’s Kingdom, not as peoples whose cultures have been stripped away in favour of our own, but as peoples whose cultures express God’s goodness and love. Maybe these new perspectives will reveal to us that our own culture is flawed and in need of transformation. Unfortunately, for many, this is a very scary prospect because it means that we all need to admit our flaws and work towards repentance and restoration. The culture that we may want to protect; the way of life that we may want to preserve may in fact not be worth protecting or preserving because of their built-in flaws. Maybe instead of preservation we need to work towards growth.

This isn’t just a historical error. We see it when we dismiss other cultures as “unreached” because they lack Western infrastructure, or when we implicitly value some lives over others based on nationality, wealth, or social status.

Wearing Orange not only reminds me of my commitment to truth, it also reminds me of something else.

Orange Reminds Me Of Reconciliation

The second word that this orange shirt I’m wearing reminds me of is reconciliation. There is good news, even in light of the fact that we have made mistakes in the past there is good news because God is working to reconcile us to himself. He has even indicated that Jesus followers are to be agents of this reconciliation. We are to find ways to connect to God with people and people with God. We are to find ways to bring Hope to a world that is hopeless. We must find ways to help others be lifted up as they journey towards God.

But as I was reminded today, in conversation with my Spiritual Director Len Thompson, we may not always see the fruit that we are looking forward to. Len reminded me of Hebrews 11 and 12 where all of these great heroes of our faith worked very hard to establish God’s Kingdom here on earth, but they did not yet experience that kingdom during their own lifetimes. Each had a contribution to make to establishing the Kingdom but the establishment of that Kingdom supersedes any one lifetime or era. What’s especially significant for us today — as pointed out by Andrew Walls — is that we too are waiting to see that Kingdom established! This not only means that you and I each have our own contribution to make, it also means that our contributions are essential!

The legacy of this theological failure isn’t confined to history books. It echoes in the ongoing trauma of survivors, the systemic inequalities Indigenous people still face, and in our own complacency. So, what’s the next step for us, right now?

What’s the next step?

So, today, feel free to wear an orange shirt. But it’s not merely enough to just wear an orange shirt. We are called to be truth-tellers and reconcilers today, and this historical example shows us what happens when we fail that call. Here’s how we can live it out now.

  • How can I apply the truth of God to my life? To my society’s life? To my use of the land?
  • How can I be an agent of reconciliation today? Encourage individuals to return to a right relationship with God? Reshape my society so that it has a proper relationship with God? Improve my relationship with the land in a way that God desires?

Will you join me in being a truth teller? Will you join me in being an agent of reconciliation?

If Orange Shirt Day is painful for you, help is available. Call the 24-hour national Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1 (800) 721-0066.

Speaking into truth & reconciliation, how would you apply Jesus’ words, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off”??

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Last week I posted some thoughts on truth and reconciliation on Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. My thoughts centered around Mark‬ ‭9:42-50‬ ‭GW‬‬, and how these verses about protecting children’s faith is in the context of the verses that talk about dealing with sin our lives. If your hand cause you to sin cut it off. If your foot causes you to sin cut it off. If your eye causes you to sin pluck it out. I realize that the sins of the hand, the foot, and the eye are central to the legacy of the abuse suffered through Indian Residential Schools.

Krystal Wawrzyniak, one of my colleagues at BGC Canada and currently seconded to Indian Life Ministries, asked, “I’m curious about your thoughts surrounding the application of ‘if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off,’ or the foot or eye. Speaking into truth and reconciliation, how would you apply this??” I did respond to Krystal on Facebook but thought it might be a good idea to flesh out some of my ideas in another blog post.

First off I need to say that the best approach is to listen because it’s only through listening to Others’ stories that we can both understand them and see the things that need to be changed in ourselves.

It’s also important to examine ourselves to see if we can find areas that need change. This happens through reflection and through listening. I think that because few of us were directly involved in the Indian Residential School system (the last school closed in 1996) we can’t simply call for repentance on a personal level. The areas where change needs to happen (ie. the parts that need to get cut off) are the systems and structures that still exist in our society — including our churches and theology — that are a part of the framework that led to Indian Residential Schools. These need to be excised from our identity as both Christians and Canadians.

On the national level this might include how the doctrine of discovery and the Treaty of Tordesillas — which blended religious and commercial interests — continues to impact Canadian institutions such as the Indian act, unclean water on First Nations, and unequal access to health care. Other issues include how the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and the Overrepresentation of Indigenous People in the Canadian Criminal Justice System reveal problems with the justice system.

On the theological level we need to revisit our understanding of God’s prevenient grace, get rid of our theological superiority that prioritises theologies from the Global North over and above those of the Global South, and read the Bible through the eyes of the Other. Jose de Mesa’s hermeneutics of appreciation is a good starting point for this and will teach us how to listen.

Ka Jose de Mesa (1946-2021) was a Filipino lay theologian who worked for many years on issues surrounding contextualisation and theology. In his Mga aral sa daan: Dulog at paraang kultural sa Kristolohiya he develops a hermeneutics of appreciation as a way to correct errors he saw in how the church crossed cultures.

The “Hermeneutics of appreciation” is presented as a series of attitudes that serve as guides for those engaging in cross-cultural interactions. How can we apply them to the Indian Residential School issue?

Attitude #1: Presume the cultural element or aspect under consideration to be positive (at least in intent) until proven otherwise. Indian Residential Schools were designed to do the exact opposite of this — to remove all traces of “Indian” from the children who were forced to attend. There is certainly nothing positive about this. A better approach would be to recognise that the Kingdom of God consists of people from “every nation, tribe, people, and language” and that includes First Nations and Metis peoples.

Attitude #2: Be aware of your own cultural presuppositions and adopt the insider’s point of view. When we look back at some of the statements made by the proponents of the Indian Residential School system we can’t help but wonder what they were thinking? To people living and thriving in the postmodern world of 2021’s Canada, the ideas of our forefathers are more than odd — they are offensive. But did they know that? Did they realise the meaning of statements like “Kill the Indian, save the man” and that ideas of assimilation were actually cultural genocide? It’s hard to believe that they didn’t realise these things. Knowledge of de Mesa’s Attitude #2 would have gone a long ways towards developing a true understanding between the various cultures.

Attitude #3: Go beyond the cultural stereotypes. It is obvious that the use of terms such as “Indian problem” and “dirty Indian” that stereotypes were the only standard of practice in these schools. As Duncan Campbell Scott said when developing his policies, “I want to get rid of the Indian problem. I do not think as a matter of fact, that the country ought to continuously protect a class of people who are able to stand alone. . . . Our objective is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic and there is no Indian question, and no Indian Department, that is the whole object of this Bill.”

Attitude #4: Use the vernacular as a key to understanding the culture in its own terms. Indian Residential Schools made a concerted effort to eliminate the various languages of the First Nations. A deeper understanding of language always leads to a deeper understanding of culture.

Unfortunately, nothing about the experience that First Nations and Metis peoples have had with either the government or the church in Canada seems to reflect these attitudes. Let’s hope that we can work towards changing some of these attitudes as we work towards truth, healing, and reconciliation.

Help is available. Call the 24-hour national Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1 (800) 721-0066.

Feedback is always welcome. 

Sharing is what friends do.

Image by Liviu Florescu on Unsplash.

Scripture is taken from GOD’S WORD®.
© 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. 
Used by permission.

Learning Jesus’ thoughts about Little children on Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

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This is my second post on connected to the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation this week. You can read the first one here. It comes from my reflections on Mark 9 where Jesus is talking about the importance of children in his Kingdom. He says,

“These little ones believe in me. It would be best for the person who causes one of them to lose faith to be thrown into the sea with a large stone hung around his neck. So if your hand causes you to lose your faith, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life disabled than to have two hands and go to hell, to the fire that cannot be put out. If your foot causes you to lose your faith, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. If your eye causes you to lose your faith, tear it out! It is better for you to enter God’s kingdom with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell. In hell worms that eat the body never die, and the fire is never put out. Everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good. But if salt loses its taste, how will you restore its flavor? Have salt within you, and live in peace with one another.” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭9:42-50‬ ‭GW‬‬

This verse has a new significance seeing as I’m reading it on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, formerly known as Orange Shirt Day. Orange Shirt Day was designed as a memorial for children with the slogan “Every Child Matters” and it relates to the terrible conditions of the Canadian Indian Residential School System that affected 150,000 First Nations and Metis people across the country up until as recently as 1996. Of course, even though the last residential school closed in 1996, the legacy of these residential schools lives on today.

I didn’t notice, until I read it this morning, the context of this verse and how this verse about protecting children’s faith is in the context of the verses that talk about dealing with sin our lives. If your hand cause you to sin cut it off. If your foot causes you to sin cut it off. If your eye causes you to sin pluck it out. I realize that the sins of the hand, the foot, and the eye are central to the legacy of the abuse suffered through Indian Residential Schools.

Could we interpret it this way? If our hand causes us to sin by removing children forcibly from their families for the purpose of eradicating their culture then we need to cut that hand off. If our foot causes us to sin by standing on the necks of God’s children then we need to cut that foot off. If our eye causes us to sin because we are looking at children with the sinful desires, then we need to pluck that eye out!

The same can be said for our society, whether that is culture, theology, doctrine, ideology or practice. If our systems seek the eradication of Others’ cultures, if they cause us to oppress the helpless, if they cause us to lust after them, then we need to cut off and pluck out those parts of our society, whether that is culture, theology, doctrine, ideology or practice.

What is the stated destination for people who act in this way? Quite simply it is hell. Hell isn’t something we talk about a lot but I would suspect that there’re very few people who wouldn’t see hell as a suitable destination for people involved in the abuse and mistreatment of children.

The passage also provides a way forward — to be salt. Saltiness is a positive biblical trait. Salt provides flavour. Salt acts as a preservative. Salt creates buoyancy in water. And salt brings peace to the world. But it seems as if our salt has lost its flavour. What will we do to restore that saltiness?

Today on the national day for truth and reconciliation remember that every child matters.

Help is available. Call the 24-hour national Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1 (800) 721-0066.

Feedback is always welcome.

Sharing is what friends do.

Image by Neeta Lind on Flickr. Some rights reserved.

Thoughts on Truth and Reconciliation for Orange Shirt Day

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Eva and I spent a couple of hours on Saturday looking for Orange t-shirts. We went to several stores in the area but were surprised that there weren’t any for sale. Eventually we ended up at the Wanuskewin Gift Shop on Broadway in Saskatoon where we found a few shirts in 3X and 4X sizes! We were extremely pleased that we found something even if they are far too large.

“What’s the big deal about orange t-shirts?,” you may ask. Phyllis Webstad tells the story of the orange shirt that inspired Orange Shirt day. As she says,

“I went to the Mission for one school year in 1973/1974. I had just turned 6 years old. I lived with my grandmother on the Dog Creek reserve. We never had very much money, but somehow my granny managed to buy me a new outfit to go to the Mission school. I remember going to Robinson’s store and picking out a shiny orange shirt. It had string laced up in front, and was so bright and exciting – just like I felt to be going to school! 

When I got to the Mission, they stripped me, and took away my clothes, including the orange shirt! I never wore it again. I didn’t understand why they wouldn’t give it back to me, it was mine! The color orange has always reminded me of that and how my feelings didn’t matter, how no one cared and how I felt like I was worth nothing. All of us little children were crying and no one cared.”

Today Orange Shirt Day has become the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. I have already written on truth and reconciliation here, here, and here. Eva and I wanted to participate this year but I had a couple of questions, the most prominent of which is a logistical one: How can I be involved in Orange Shirt Day without also profiting from it? I would hate to be a participant in some kind of cultural appropriation and it would be an even greater shame for the oppressors to further profit from the day. For example, the Hudson’s Bay Company recently came under fire for selling Orange Shirts. This is especially poignant given the company’s history in Canada. Fortunately, the Company had followed the proper procedures, as outlined in the Orange Shirt Society’s guidelines. But that isn’t the case for every company doing this.

The next question I had was how do I go about the process of reconciliation particularly in a culturally appropriate way. I am working on a post about conflict resolutions in the Bible. Most Christians assume that Matthew 18 is the only way to do things. I happen to disagree with this but let’s agree with this for argument’s sake. What would that entail when it comes to truth and reconciliation in Canada? Since Mt 18 is all about bringing the offending sibling back into fellowship we need to recognise that that is us!

Us. I will say that my family history is full of discrimination and persecution. My father’s side has roots in the Mennonites who moved around the world trying to find places where their pacifism would be acceptable. They moved from the Netherlands to Prussia to the Ukraine and eventually ended up in Canada. My mother’s family has roots in the First Nations particularly in how the fur traders interacted with First Nations women that lead to a group of people known as country born. But in spite of this history of discrimination and persecution, I have grown up completely separated from those identities and live a life of privilege. So when I say that we are the offending sibling I am including myself in that. This is especially true for those involved in churches when talking about residential schools.

What can we do to foster truth and reconciliation? I can think of a couple of options that will lead toward reconciliation.

In reconciliation, the offenders don’t set the agenda. Rather, as the offending party we must place ourselves in a position of powerlessness. It’s not enough to apologise. Often when giving an apology I find myself frustrated that the offended party wants to talk more about how offensive I have been. All this shows is that I am not truly apologetic and I don’t want reconciliation. This is particularly hard when it comes to corporate evil. The Canada we know has been built in part on a flawed foundation that is in need of renovation. What does that renovation look like? Ask someone who is affected by the flaws to find out.

In reconciliation the offenders need to listen. We need to be humble and submissive and to listen to the stories of those we have offended because that is the only way for us to experience their pain. Let’s start this process by listening and watching as Phyllis Webstand tells us her story.

But as Phyllis says, her story is not unique. Another part of the reconciliation process is to find someone in our own community who we can share stories with. Only by sharing stories can we find truth and reconciliation!

Help is available. Call the 24-hour national Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1 (800) 721-0066.

Feedback is always welcome.

Sharing is what friends do.

Image by Rod Long on Unsplash. Video by orangeshirtday.org.