Unless we’ve been hiding under a big pile of cultural rocks, we probably know that today is the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. On a continuum ranging from “Hey, a new holiday!” to “My grief is so strong I can’t get out of bed”, there is surely some way for each of us to stop and listen; to listen to the voices of the Indigenous First Peoples of this continent, to listen with our own spirits open to the truth, even if it makes us very uncomfortable.

Indigenous physician Dr. Alika Lafontaine puts it this way: “Truth and reconciliation always begins with truth…”.  Cindy Blackstock, director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, suggests approaching today as we would Remembrance Day. She says, “keep in mind that children were more likely to die in residential schools than a soldier was in the Second World War.” We are surrounded by Indigenous voices that can help us do better than we have done in the past; better with facing the truth and having that spur us into action(s) that make a positive contribution to reconciliation. At this cultural moment, a very significant aspect of facing the truth is grieving with or supporting the grief of those mourning lives that have been taken, those whose families, cultures and spirituality have been assaulted, and whose truth has been hidden from view by self-interested parties, including many expressions of the Christian church. Today, especially but not exclusively today, take a moment to be still, to face some aspect of these truths, and to let your spirit tell you what to do. If you are able, be open to deep sadness…

I’m not going to say much about the Talky Bit in this blurb. It’s not unimportant or unrelated, but it’s also not paramount. Just this – we’ll be digging into Stage 4 this Sunday, meeting online here at 10:45 a.m. for some music and Community Time, and going on to the Talky Bit. My exploration will be guided in many ways by the words of Annie Dillard, who said, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives”. I feel like we are entering expansive terrain, and am hoping our hearts and lives are open to it.

This week will be online, but next week we will launch into this schedule of alternating weeks of online and in-person gatherings.

October

November

December

I’ll send out the particulars of those home gatherings the week before, but for now it might be helpful to know that one of them is in East St. Paul and the other is in Wolsley, so hopefully one or the other is within reasonable distance of wherever you are (assuming you are in Winnipeg). Both locations have separate spaces for the kids, just in case you’re a parent wondering about that detail. More details about the littles to follow next week.

If there are other folks that want to offer their homes as part of this transition plan, let me know. And just FYI – attendees will need to be fully vaccinated and expect to wear masks indoors. Our littles will be there and although the progress toward kid vaccines is heartening we’re not there yet. Also, we’ll continue to livestream all the gatherings (that’s what “hybrid” means in the schedule) as well as podcasting the Talky Bits, so if you can’t or would prefer not to attend y