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What does reconciliation actually look like in our everyday lives?
For the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we're revisiting a conversation from the Journey With Care archives that feels just as important today.
In this episode, you'll hear Indigenous and non-Indigenous voices wrestle with one question: What does reconciliation mean to you?
Through stories and reflections from Jim Thunder, Jennifer Mason, Karen and Howard Jolly, Jared Ross, Ray Aldred, Joel Calabrese, Melissa Spence, Lyn Dyck, Dr. James Robertson, Wendi Park and others, we explore reconciliation through the lenses of Indigenous identity, residential schools, faith, the Church, treaties, forgiveness, friendship and community.
These aren't voices offering one simple answer. Instead, they invite us to listen, learn and consider what reconciliation might ask of each of us.
You'll hear about the importance of learning the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 94 Calls to Action, examining assumptions we've inherited, listening to Indigenous perspectives, acknowledging painful history, and building genuine relationships with one another.
As we mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we're making a little room to pause, reflect and, most importantly, listen.
Clips taken from the following episodes:
Jim Thunder | Making a Ruckus with Pope Francis
https://journey-with-care.captivate.fm/episode/jim-thunder-making-a-ruckus-with-pope-francis
Dr. James Robertson | Uncovering the History of the Canadian Church
Jennifer Mason | I'm Not God's Mistake
https://journey-with-care.captivate.fm/episode/jennifer-mason-im-not-gods-mistake
Karen Jolly | "Maybe I'll Wear My White Buckskin Before Jesus"
Decolonizing Your Mindset: Small Steps to Engage with Truth and Reconciliation | Joel Calabrese
Melissa Spence | Resilient and Strong
https://journey-with-care.captivate.fm/episode/s01e05
The Settled Stranger | The Stranger Among us With Guest: Lyn Dyck
From Trauma to Freedom: A Story of Healing and Redemption | Jared Ross
https://player.captivate.fm/collection/944f3c3c-e727-4801-9513-bd760394ade9
Decolonization, the Bible, and Indigenous Spirituality | Ray Aldred
Beyond Good Intentions | Guest Host Dr. James Robertson Interviews Wendi Park on CareImpact and CarePortal
The Estranged Indigenous | Loving The Stranger Among Us With Guest: Howard Jolly
Learning Everyday: A Powerful Father-Son Story of Reconciliation and Prayer Through Dance
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Before we kick off season 6, it's the National Day for
Speaker:Truth and Reconciliation. And as we were thinking about what we wanted to
Speaker:share this week, we kept coming back to an episode from a few years
Speaker:ago on Journey with Care, the podcast that eventually became what you're listening
Speaker:to now, Neighborly. For that episode, we brought together voices
Speaker:from several conversations we've had over the years, and listening back, we felt that
Speaker:these were voices worth hearing again. Each
Speaker:person brings a different perspective on reconciliation, what it means,
Speaker:what it asks of us, and what it can look like in our relationships and
Speaker:communities and our neighbors. So as we approach this
Speaker:significant day, we're making a little bit of room to pause,
Speaker:reflect, and most importantly, listen.
Speaker:I acknowledge that I have resided on the ancestral lands of Treaty 1,
Speaker:the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree,
Speaker:Dakota, and Dene peoples, and the national homeland of the Red River
Speaker:I also acknowledge that our water is procured from Shoal Lake 40 First
Speaker:Nation. I acknowledge that the social work profession, my
Speaker:chosen degree, has played an active role in destroying the cultural traditions of
Speaker:the Indigenous peoples of Canada. I am committed to discontinuing this practice
Speaker:and restoring those traditions as I enter into my career. I acknowledge that the
Speaker:education I received on the history of Canada has come from a colonial perspective,
Speaker:and I am committed to learning from different perspectives.
Speaker:Colonization is not a thing of the past but is still present in the structure
Speaker:and systems of Canadian society. I continue to learn and share what I
Speaker:have learned with those in my community, both now and with the future generation, in
Speaker:the spirit of Truth and Reconciliation.
Speaker:Hey, welcome back to Journey with Care. I'm your host for today, Johan. We're so
Speaker:honoured to have you with us on this very important episode commemorating
Speaker:the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. So hopefully today
Speaker:we can explore the profound significance of reconciliation with our Indigenous
Speaker:brothers and sisters across Canada. So in this special
Speaker:episode, we'll hear from some inspiring voices who share their deeply
Speaker:personal and thoughtful insights on what reconciliation means to
Speaker:them. We're going to play some clips from our past conversations that
Speaker:we've had. We'll walk through the experiences, challenges, and
Speaker:hopes of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous individuals and their
Speaker:families. Because this day is not only about reflecting on the
Speaker:past, but also actively participating in a future where
Speaker:reconciliation is at the heart of our communities. So we feel
Speaker:it's crucial that we come together to listen, learn, and engage in
Speaker:these conversations. We'll honour the resilience and strength of the
Speaker:Indigenous peoples, acknowledging the trauma imposed by colonialism,
Speaker:and commit to walking alongside them in a spirit of genuine
Speaker:partnership and respect. Reconciliation is a journey that
Speaker:requires humility, intentionality, and the willingness to face
Speaker:uncomfortable truths. So as we listen to our guests, let their
Speaker:words inspire you to strive for meaningful change in your life
Speaker:and in your community. By embracing reconciliation, we bring to life the
Speaker:call to love our neighbors as ourselves, promoting healing,
Speaker:restoring dignity, and nurturing relationships. This process can
Speaker:be challenging, But it's vital for fostering a world that reflects the
Speaker:fullness of God's kingdom. So here we go. First, let's
Speaker:hear from Jimmy Thunder, an OG Cree MBA graduate who is
Speaker:currently serving in the Premier's Office here in Manitoba. We interviewed him in
Speaker:episode 7 of season 1, and we asked what
Speaker:reconciliation means to him. Here's what he had to say.
Speaker:I would say Reconciliation is when 2 parties come
Speaker:together, come to an agreement of a wrong being done,
Speaker:and have a renewed commitment to rebuild a relationship
Speaker:and to make amends and to commit to a better relationship into the future.
Speaker:Jimmy also works in partnership with Circles of Reconciliation. Here
Speaker:he shares a practical step that we can all take to participate in
Speaker:reconciliation. What we were seeing is that there's a lot of
Speaker:people who have this now renewed interest in learning about reconciliation and
Speaker:learning about our history. But it's just amazing to realize
Speaker:that we don't even have a common base yet to begin with. We're
Speaker:not even at square one together. And so a great starting point
Speaker:is to look at the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, not
Speaker:only the final report and all the research that's been done, but even just
Speaker:start at square one and just look at the 94 Calls to Action. How many
Speaker:Canadians do we have even today that don't know what the 94 Calls to
Speaker:Action are, what's in there, what are the themes, and
Speaker:much less which one of the Calls to Action can they commit to working on?
Speaker:And a lot of misconceptions are that the calls to action are directed towards the
Speaker:government, but it's actually meant for each member of Canadian society.
Speaker:There's even a whole section for the church, isn't there? Exactly. Yeah, there
Speaker:definitely is. Let's go through all of these calls to action one
Speaker:by one every day for 94 days, and let's commit to
Speaker:reading each and every one of them. And not just ourselves, but let's challenge
Speaker:all those around us, everyone in our networks, our organizations. Let's get people to
Speaker:read these and And to commit to action on them.
Speaker:Next up, let's revisit our conversation with Dr. James Robertson of Tyndale
Speaker:University in Toronto. We sat down on episode 11
Speaker:in season 1 to talk about his book Overlooked and the church's relationship in
Speaker:history with the Indigenous peoples. In this clip, Dr. Robertson
Speaker:shares an illustration of what it means as a Christian to engage in
Speaker:reconciliation.
Speaker:Let's say we've had a friendship for years, and if I
Speaker:have been perpetually and constantly doing something that harms
Speaker:you— maybe not intentionally, maybe not physical, but I'm using
Speaker:insensitive language. We can put it right down to, to a baseline. Like, I'm just
Speaker:saying something about you or to you that you don't appreciate.
Speaker:You know, you're like, okay, at first, well, you know, this is James, I'm gonna
Speaker:let this go. But eventually, because we have a relationship, you bring it to my
Speaker:attention. You're like, listen, this is how it's going. Well, now I have a choice.
Speaker:You know, I can be like, well, I didn't mean it like that. And we
Speaker:can have all those fake sort of, I'm sorry that you feel that way, those
Speaker:terrible apology apologies that are just reiterated. Mm-hmm. For me,
Speaker:if I'm going to follow that Nazarene carpenter, that
Speaker:super cool God of mine, human, that lived
Speaker:2,000 years ago, I don't have an option
Speaker:other than to be like, I hear you. You're right. It is now
Speaker:my choice to value our friendship
Speaker:or my desires. And what Christ has taught me is that our
Speaker:friendship matters more in the economy of God. And therefore, my
Speaker:rights, my desires, which we've heard so much of in, in the
Speaker:past few years and people reacting to that, um, and what, what
Speaker:saddens me is, of course, a lot of Christian voices are hopping on that as
Speaker:well. But if we are followers of Christ, I mean, it's
Speaker:right in Philippians 2. Like, he didn't consider equality with God something to be grasped,
Speaker:but he humbled himself to the point of death, death on a cross. At the
Speaker:very least, I can look at my sister in Christ and say, you
Speaker:know what, I'm sorry, you're right. I will do better going
Speaker:forward. Please forgive me. And then that gives you the chance to say, I do
Speaker:forgive you. Dr. Robertson then shared some of
Speaker:his concerns with reconciliation becoming a buzzword rather than
Speaker:facilitating change. Here's what he had to say.
Speaker:I think the damage to reconciliation now is one, it'll become trendy and like all
Speaker:trends, it'll go away. And this cannot go away. Right. And 2, the words
Speaker:Things are better, but there's no sense of community. There's no actual
Speaker:respect for Indigenous perspectives in a way that will
Speaker:actually facilitate change. And of course, the word for it, which I think is a
Speaker:great word for it, both biblically and realistically, the word reconciliation.
Speaker:That's what concerns me about the trajectory of settler and Indigenous
Speaker:relations.
Speaker:Moving on to an earlier episode, episode 10 of season 1.
Speaker:Our season 1 host Melvina sat down with Jennifer Mason, an
Speaker:Anishinaabe woman who's one of Melvina's fellow co-workers at Inner
Speaker:City Youth Alive here in Winnipeg, sharing what reconciliation means to her.
Speaker:Jesus is at the center of everything because of how
Speaker:real he is for me, and so everything always comes back
Speaker:to my faith. And so for me, it stems
Speaker:from You know, I grew up in a home where
Speaker:Jesus was in the home, but what I learned was
Speaker:to know Him well, to be a good Christian, meant that I
Speaker:couldn't be me. It meant that I had to learn how to look
Speaker:like someone else, to act like someone else, to be like someone else in order
Speaker:to be a good Christian. And it's been a really long journey, but
Speaker:for sure, actively, at least the last 10 years, God has just showed me
Speaker:that all of that was wrong and taught me how
Speaker:to love myself and that in that I am
Speaker:Indigenous. He has intentionally made me
Speaker:Anishinaabe and all that that entails,
Speaker:and that He didn't make any mistakes. It wasn't, oops, I did
Speaker:this, you got to figure out how to make it better. And, you know, He
Speaker:intentionally chose for me to be Anishinaabe. And he has been
Speaker:teaching me that. So my journey of reconciliation,
Speaker:it began with decolonizing my mind because
Speaker:what I was taught was done so well. Yeah.
Speaker:That I rejected all of the things that were
Speaker:associated with me being Indigenous, with being First Nations.
Speaker:And he's like, nope, I knew what I was doing when I made you,
Speaker:and I want you to be proud of that. And so, yeah, he's taught
Speaker:me to love myself and to be proud of the fact
Speaker:that I am Anishinaabe.
Speaker:Our next clip, we hear from Karen Jolly, a pastor
Speaker:and Indigenous community leader who was our guest on season 1, episode 14.
Speaker:We're going to hear from her husband Howard a little later. But here's Karen Jolly
Speaker:being asked the same question. What does reconciliation mean to you?
Speaker:I think probably the biggest thing, fixing something that has been
Speaker:broken, and it carries into many
Speaker:different places, right? Like, but probably the strongest thing is
Speaker:relationships. When relationships are broken,
Speaker:there needs to be a time where you bring
Speaker:people together. You talk about what's happened and then
Speaker:you try to fix and mend that
Speaker:relationship then. But it doesn't necessarily mean that you
Speaker:become best friends. Yeah. But it, it just means
Speaker:that there is nothing between you and the
Speaker:other person, but that you can be on friendly terms.
Speaker:Not necessarily best friends, but at least you've
Speaker:talked about The thing that has come between you.
Speaker:And I guess even as— when you think of the
Speaker:country we live in, and I don't
Speaker:know how we're going to fix what's been broken in our country.
Speaker:That one is a bigger question.
Speaker:Moving ahead to season 2, Tim, who is part of our executive team here at
Speaker:Care Impact, was our guest host and interviewed Joel Calabrese,
Speaker:a dedicated community leader and scholar with a deep interest in
Speaker:theology and Indigenous reconciliation. He's working alongside of
Speaker:NAITS, North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies.
Speaker:He also brings his experience as an archaeologist to share his
Speaker:perspectives on reconciliation. In this clip, Joel shares a
Speaker:few things we could as Christians and as the church do to
Speaker:participate in reconciliation.
Speaker:Here are a few things. Do your own personal
Speaker:reflection and, and do some archaeology on your theology
Speaker:and dig into your own theology and put some context and story
Speaker:to it. You know, who told you that? Where did it come from? Why do
Speaker:you believe that certain kind of thing? Particularly with things that disturb you
Speaker:and bring up that unemotional response.
Speaker:It seems like a lot of church communities Do a book study
Speaker:once a year or a few times a year, have different book groups. There are
Speaker:a lot, you know, significant amount of Indigenous
Speaker:authors following Jesus that you could incorporate. Your
Speaker:church should be doing that, particularly in Canada. In this land that
Speaker:we now call Canada, this is something that has been—
Speaker:it's part of how we think about things, this aspect
Speaker:of reconciliation. with the R-E in parentheses,
Speaker:because I don't know if there's ever been conciliation to be
Speaker:R-E'd to. So Richard Twiss's book,
Speaker:any of his, Mark Charles's book on the Doctrine of Discovery
Speaker:would be a good one as well. And they have questions in them that you
Speaker:can go through as a group. They're built for group discussion.
Speaker:So get everybody in the church reading some of those. And if they
Speaker:are not even part of what you are thinking the church
Speaker:leadership is thinking about, Incorporating into their church, I think that needs to be discussion.
Speaker:Hmm. And I think that's sort of an internal thing the church can do.
Speaker:And I've talked about the personal individual reflection
Speaker:kind of stuff of archaeology of theology. But I think
Speaker:just start celebrating with people. Go to
Speaker:powwow. There are gatherings and celebrations and
Speaker:dance competitions and things like that. And try to get your
Speaker:church group, your whatever community to go,
Speaker:whatever community is willing to go. This, this is an obligation for
Speaker:everybody across Turtle Island is to build that relationship. This is the
Speaker:land we're on. These are the treaties we're part of in any of those things.
Speaker:Let's take a hop back to episode 5 of season 1 with Melissa Spence,
Speaker:This is also our most listened to episode on the podcast so far.
Speaker:Melissa is a pastor's wife living here on Treaty 1 in Winnipeg, and
Speaker:Melissa was asked what reconciliation means to her.
Speaker:So reconciliation to me is reconciling to
Speaker:God the Father and learning to
Speaker:have that image, to, to take on his image
Speaker:in how we live our lives and see ourselves. So it's all
Speaker:about identity in Him and what Jesus has
Speaker:done for us. So Jesus is a prime example
Speaker:of what we on Earth, here on Earth, should be, where
Speaker:His Kingdom is. The Kingdom is us, and we
Speaker:need to be reconciled to Him so that God could be
Speaker:glorified. It's actually the Lord God, our Father,
Speaker:who actually started the reconciliation process. And when He
Speaker:sent His Son to die for us. So in my
Speaker:mindset before, I used to think that the Lord
Speaker:sent His Son so that He could love us again. But that's not the
Speaker:case, that He actually sent His Son because
Speaker:He loved us, not to make Him love us.
Speaker:In religion, it teaches you that, that we have to
Speaker:work for His love and that It just comes out in that story of the
Speaker:prodigal son. Like, we call it the prodigal son, but I think I'd rather
Speaker:call it the sons, the elder and the prodigal. And
Speaker:so I was kind of like that elder son who had
Speaker:everything that the father had. I was living in his household,
Speaker:and he was the oldest son, and he had
Speaker:double portion of the inheritance, but he didn't see
Speaker:that. And so he was working, and why, why, you know,
Speaker:you see this whole conversation
Speaker:with The elder son and the, and the father, when
Speaker:they're talking about the prodigal son, like, you didn't kill the
Speaker:fatted calf for me. And he— and the Lord said, everything I have is
Speaker:yours. Yes. And he could have just killed the calf whenever he wanted
Speaker:to. Yeah. And so reconciliation, I
Speaker:think, is just understanding that Jesus
Speaker:died on the cross for us, rose Was buried and
Speaker:rose again so that he could reveal the Father to us.
Speaker:In episode 20 of season 2, Wendi sat down with Lynn Dick,
Speaker:Executive Director of the Evangelical Mennonite Mission Conference.
Speaker:Lynn discussed being a settler And then his experience fostering
Speaker:children with Indigenous heritage. Here's what he had to say.
Speaker:So your path into fostering was through respite, and you got a feel,
Speaker:and obviously it tugged on your heart that maybe this is
Speaker:something that I could offer in a parenting role and
Speaker:provide a safe and nurturing home. How was that leap
Speaker:from just general fostering to Going
Speaker:cross-cultural, with Indigenous people being overrepresented in
Speaker:the child welfare system, what was it like for you to,
Speaker:to go there? Well, that was actually fairly
Speaker:intentional on our part. When we looked at getting involved with
Speaker:fostering, we felt that we were being led to do
Speaker:this with Indigenous people, with Indigenous kids, because we saw such a,
Speaker:such a great need there, and we wanted to learn
Speaker:We already were looking at it at that time already. There's got to
Speaker:be something to this. There's got to be something that
Speaker:we as— like now we're learning the term as settlers—
Speaker:but that we can do to start to build some of this
Speaker:reconciliation, right? This was before the TRC was
Speaker:even a thing. But we just felt like God was saying to
Speaker:us, you guys got to put yourself out there and do something like this.
Speaker:When we had our first placement, it was, it
Speaker:was like trial by fire. We had a
Speaker:2-and-a-half-year-old little guy that came to, to be with us,
Speaker:and he was just— wow. He was like,
Speaker:he was a whirlwind, right? Like, he came in and energy
Speaker:galore. He had some disabilities that
Speaker:arose from being FAS, so he was ADHD and
Speaker:different kind of things like that. And, you know, when you first
Speaker:go into some of these things, you have this idyllic thing of, oh, we're
Speaker:gonna really— Just love the child, right? We're just
Speaker:gonna love the child and it's all gonna be wonderful. And it was
Speaker:like, oh my goodness. We started to say
Speaker:that, you know, this little guy was our spiritual exercise,
Speaker:right? And if you think about it, when you think of doing any kind of
Speaker:exercise, if you want to build a muscle to get stronger, you put resistance to
Speaker:it. Right? What do we learn through different trials? How does that—
Speaker:how do we learn to be resilient in another area? And that was what we
Speaker:were learning here. This was— we were learning something here. We were
Speaker:learning about a family, about a situation. We got to be
Speaker:his parents for 3 and a half years
Speaker:until he was able to transition back to be with his
Speaker:mother and with his other brothers and sisters. It was a really neat
Speaker:process. And did you learn a lot about his
Speaker:Mm-hmm. I mean, one of the things that it allowed us to do was to
Speaker:become part of the community. We got to learn and get
Speaker:to know the social workers who, the majority of them were
Speaker:Indigenous. We get to learn about his community that he was part of,
Speaker:go to the celebrations, to the powwows. Because one of the things that
Speaker:we wanted to make sure was we didn't want— I
Speaker:hope this sounds not too strange, but we didn't want him to become white.
Speaker:We wanted him to be able to be part of,
Speaker:you know, our lives, but to gain an understanding of
Speaker:who he was, what his heritage was,
Speaker:and that he could be proud of that. To, to help him to learn those
Speaker:things, and in the process, we were learning as well.
Speaker:Next, we hear from Jared Ross, who shared his story walking through trauma.
Speaker:And even though he's a young adult, he talks about the implications that
Speaker:residential schools had on him and his family. I sat down
Speaker:with Jared to share his story in a 2-part series in episodes 4 and 5
Speaker:in season 2. Really inspiring story, but here's what he had to
Speaker:say about what reconciliation means to him.
Speaker:So I think like the Reconciliation part, like, the way that I
Speaker:live my Christian life is like I try and go by the Word and what
Speaker:it says, you know. So ministry of reconciliation out of 2 Corinthians
Speaker:5:18 about, you know, the Lord reconciling
Speaker:people to him, but also at the same time we carry this ministry of reconciliation
Speaker:and we're just pleading, come back to God, you know. And I
Speaker:think that's just the way I viewed reconciliation was just like, okay,
Speaker:that's what I want for my people. as well. And seeing that vision and also
Speaker:just the Revelation scripture
Speaker:that I mentioned, I was just like, the Ministry of Reconciliation to me just means
Speaker:like, you know, I want them to be healed from this
Speaker:trauma that came from residential schools. I feel like if we go through that
Speaker:and also just walk through that healing of what happened, but
Speaker:also just not carrying that shame anymore, I feel like we'll
Speaker:just see such a huge revival that comes out of the First Nations people. There's
Speaker:so many young people who are still walking through what I did
Speaker:and not getting the gospel in such a true form.
Speaker:And I feel like once they understand on the
Speaker:healing process, but also understanding the true gospel, I feel like the youth are
Speaker:the key to reach out to every youth in Canada. And I
Speaker:feel like this revival would just start from the First Nations people.
Speaker:Another interview that Tim led, he sat down with Ray Aldred, an
Speaker:author and status quo from northern Alberta and director of Indigenous
Speaker:Studies at the Vancouver School of Theology. And he
Speaker:shared his perspective on the Common Law and treaties and their relationship
Speaker:to reconciliation.
Speaker:But they have essentially set the table for reconciliation in Canada. And I
Speaker:immediately, as you were making those comments, I was thinking of the ancient practice I
Speaker:learned about called solha, which you're probably familiar with, where the one who is
Speaker:offended actually sets the table to sit down and eat with the person who's
Speaker:offended them. And I was very moved when I heard you speak
Speaker:to that. I don't know if there's more you want to unpack or you can
Speaker:correct exactly how I'm understanding what you were talking about, but even the
Speaker:funding of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, you were saying, was being done by
Speaker:funds that belong to Indigenous people. Yeah, it came out of their
Speaker:settlement. Were the residential schools. That's what paid for it.
Speaker:The treaty among the Six Nations with the
Speaker:newcomers, it's called the Common Bowl.
Speaker:Aspects of it are called the Common Bowl. We all eat from the same bowl.
Speaker:One of the privileges of living in this land is that to be
Speaker:fed, to be fed by Mother Earth, to be able to
Speaker:enjoy the bounty of Mother Earth. This is to share with everybody.
Speaker:The idea though was that everybody should share, not that some should
Speaker:have all of it or others shouldn't have all of it. And it's not a
Speaker:merit-based kind of a thing. It is
Speaker:what it means to live in connection with the earth, to be
Speaker:able to be fed. A friend of mine said
Speaker:Indigenous people were advocating for universal Medicare
Speaker:long before Tommy Douglas did. This part of their thinking
Speaker:in the, in the making the treaty. This is why they would always say
Speaker:that this, when they were making treaty in one place, they said this needed to
Speaker:apply to everybody, all the First Nations and all of Canada,
Speaker:when it was talking about providing the medicine
Speaker:chest, as it's called in some of the number of treaties.
Speaker:So the idea is that human beings are sacred,
Speaker:they're sacred beings. So We should be
Speaker:respectful of them.
Speaker:On our second last clip, we're going to hear from Wendi, our beloved host and
Speaker:co-founder of Care Impact. This was taken from episode 13 of
Speaker:season 2, where the tables were actually flipped here. Wendi was actually being
Speaker:interviewed by Dr. James Robertson, whom you heard from earlier, a little bit on
Speaker:organizations and the church working together for the purpose of reconciliation,
Speaker:something that she's really passionate about.
Speaker:There's so many good organizations. There's tons of
Speaker:assets in all the cities across Canada, tons of programs and
Speaker:oodles of resources being thrown, thrown at these nonprofits, and a lot
Speaker:of them doing good things, but they just don't communicate,
Speaker:particularly with the church. And when we wanted to go into
Speaker:saying, hey, I think we are feeling called, look at the research on
Speaker:residential schools and the tie with the church. We've got to do something.
Speaker:We've got to— like, nobody's talking about it in the sanctuaries, at least in
Speaker:my tradition and in the circles I was in. Why isn't anybody talking
Speaker:about this? I was warned by very
Speaker:prominent leaders saying, oh, that's nice, but just don't
Speaker:go there. That just gets messy. Yeah. Just talk about children and
Speaker:families, but let's not go into the TRC or
Speaker:reconciliation because that's just another thing that's more political. And I'm like,
Speaker:Reconciliation is the gospel. Reconciliation is so
Speaker:central to the Bible. And yet somehow we've tailored
Speaker:that out in whatever denomination. It's been easy
Speaker:to tailor it out. We curate our own narrative, right? We
Speaker:curate our own theologies and to our convenience, because
Speaker:that hurts. Like, I've seen people squirm. But
Speaker:fortunately, God gave me the gift of making people squirm. And I don't mind that
Speaker:because I think we need to go there. It's not a condemning thing. It's just
Speaker:like— If we're gonna find healing, let's not pathologize the Indigenous.
Speaker:Let's not pathologize the one that can't keep the job or the homeless, the
Speaker:cycle of poverty. Let's pathologize the church and see, okay,
Speaker:where is this stemming from? Hmm. And why aren't we
Speaker:effective in our ministries? Why is it us and them?
Speaker:Why can't it be we? And I wanna see a lot more
Speaker:collaboration, we-ing, if you call that, with
Speaker:people. But I think we can do a lot more togetherness.
Speaker:To close out our episode today, we're going to hear from Pastor Harold
Speaker:Jolly, Karen Jolly's husband, whom you also heard from earlier.
Speaker:This is taken from the episode The Estranged Indigenous from the Loving the
Speaker:Stranger Among Us series, which is episode 32 in season
Speaker:2. Harold shares both from a pastoral and
Speaker:Indigenous perspective of what reconciliation means.
Speaker:There's, there's a brighter day coming, and even in the midst of
Speaker:darkness, you know, in the midst of chaos, uh, there's this call
Speaker:to, to trust God and that he, he's working in all things
Speaker:for good. And so there's this hope, and there's this
Speaker:idea too that all the things that happen matter to God.
Speaker:So in talking about them, there's something in it that we're not just
Speaker:talking about it to make people feel guilty or, you know, or to talk down
Speaker:to people or to hurt people. But there's something in it that as we talk
Speaker:about those things that we're trying to bring reconciliation,
Speaker:that we're trying to bring unity. The way that I think of it is like
Speaker:we're trying to break forth the Kingdom of God. Yes. You know, that the Kingdom
Speaker:of God would be present in this world. And the idea of that happening is
Speaker:the reconciliation that happens. And I think that there's something very
Speaker:powerful about Acknowledging the pain and
Speaker:about tears being in that, and also too, people
Speaker:coming together and saying, will you forgive me or forgive my
Speaker:people? And a person saying, I forgive, you know, I forgive.
Speaker:Not just superficial, but in light of all that's happened,
Speaker:I choose to forgive. So for example, not
Speaker:superficial would look like what day to day?
Speaker:Oh man. I guess just the hearing of stories, just the
Speaker:embracing of each other, just building friendships, close
Speaker:friendships. I have close friends that are Caucasian, you know, and very close
Speaker:friends that are Caucasian. And I work with people that are Caucasian.
Speaker:They're very encouraging. And I think that we acknowledge
Speaker:the history and we talk about it and we work through it together.
Speaker:So— And you go golfing. I go golfing. You go golfing with them too. Play
Speaker:hockey. Yeah, yeah, spend time. Spend time with them. I think that's huge. Yeah.
Speaker:Oh yeah. Just enjoying being around each other.
Speaker:Listening back to those voices a couple of years later, I think the question is
Speaker:still worth asking. What does reconciliation require
Speaker:of me? And maybe this week, the first step is simply to
Speaker:listen. Listen to an Indigenous voice or story you haven't
Speaker:heard before. Listen to something you didn't know and pay
Speaker:attention to what it might change in the way you see your neighbors.
Speaker:Reconciliation isn't something we can wrap up in a single day or a
Speaker:single podcast episode. It's something we continue to learn
Speaker:and live out in relationship with one another. And with that,
Speaker:we're also closing the chapter on this season of Neighborly.
Speaker:When we meet you here again, we'll be kicking off season 6.
Speaker:Shannon and I have been doing a lot of thinking about where Neighborly is headed,
Speaker:and we're excited to share some of that with you. And we got a little
Speaker:bit of news to share as well, but you'll have to tune in. Until then,
Speaker:thanks for listening and for making room for these stories.
Speaker:The stories we share here remind us that care does not have to be perfect
Speaker:to be powerful. It just has to be present. Neighborly is an
Speaker:initiative of Care Impact, a Canadian charity equipping churches,
Speaker:agencies, and communities with technology and training To care better together.
Speaker:This episode was produced by CareCreatives Company, a social
Speaker:enterprise of Care Impact. If you're building a podcast and want help with
Speaker:strategy, editing, or full production, visit carecreativesco.ca
Speaker:to connect with us. I'm Johan. Thanks for listening,
Speaker:and be that kind of neighbor someone will never forget in a good way.
Speaker:Sister, take my hand.