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Description
What does reconciliation truly mean to you?
In this conversation, Johan Heinrichs plays snippets from previous conversations with a diverse group of guests—Jared Ross, Howard Jolly, Jennifer Mason, and Jimmy Thunder and others—who share their personal journeys and insights on reconciliation, cultural identity, and the role of faith.
From Lyn Dyck's experience fostering an Indigenous child to Jared's reflections on the lasting impact of residential schools, the episode is a heartfelt exploration of how we can better listen, learn, and participate in healing and restoration. Highlighting the need for genuine community engagement and the transformative power of faith, this episode challenges listeners to engage with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 94 Calls to Action and to commit to real, impactful change.
Time Stamps
[00:00] A New Graduate of Social Work Shares Her Land Acknowledgment
[00:59] Epilogue
[02:36] Jimmy Thunder on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action
[4:34] Dr. Robertson’s Insights on Christian Engagement in Reconciliation
[07:17] Jennifer Mason on Reconciling Anishinaabe Heritage with Faith
[9:21] Fixing the Fractures: Karen Jolly on Dialogue and Mending Relationships
[10:49] Joel Calabrese on Theological Reflection and Cultural Participation
[13:33] Spiritual Healing in Reconciliation: Melissa Spence on God's Unconditional Love
[16:07] Fostering Cultural Connections: Lyn Dyck's Journey with Indigenous Heritage
[19:58] Healing Through Faith: Jared Ross on Reconciliation and the True Gospel
[21:47] The Sacred Common Bowl: Ray Aldrid on Treaties and Shared Resources
[24:08] Bridging the Gap: Wendi Park on Churches, Communication, and Reconciliation
[26:22] Forgiveness and Friendship: Howard Jolly on Acknowledging Pain and Building Genuine Connections
[28:47] Prologue
Episodes Mentioned:
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
Last Year's Episode for the Day for Truth and Reconciliation
Learning Everyday: A Powerful Father-Son Story of Reconciliation and Prayer Through Dance
94 Calls to Action
https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf
Other Links
Reach out to us! https://journeywithcare.ca/podcast
Email: podcast@careimpact.ca
Listen To Journey With Prayer - A prayer journey corresponding to this episode: https://journeywithprayer.captivate.fm/listen
or get both podcasts on the same RSS feed! https://feeds.captivate.fm/n/careimpact-podcast
CareImpact: careimpact.ca
About the CarePortal: careimpact.ca/careportal
DONATE! Help connect and equip more churches across Canada to effectively journey well in community with children and families: careimpact.ca/donate
Editing and production by Johan Heinrichs: arkpodcasts.ca
Transcripts
I acknowledge that I have resided on the ancestral lands of
Speaker:Treaty 1, the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe Cree, Oji
Speaker:Cree, Dakota and Dene peoples, and the national homeland of the Red
Speaker:river maintees. I also acknowledge that our water is procured from Shoal Lake.
Speaker:40th 1st nation I acknowledge that the social work
Speaker:profession, my chosen degree, has played an active role in destroying the cultural
Speaker:traditions of the indigenous peoples of Canada. I am committed to discontinuing
Speaker:this practice and restoring those traditions as I enter into my career. I
Speaker:acknowledge that the education I received my empty on the history of Canada has come
Speaker:from a colonial perspective, 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
Speaker:I have learned with those in my community, both now and with the future generation,
Speaker:in 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:honored 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 will walk through the experiences, challenges, and
Speaker:hopes of both indigenous and non indigenous individuals and their
Speaker:families. 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 honor the resilience and strength of the
Speaker:indigenous peoples, acknowledging the trauma imposed by
Speaker:colonialism, and commit to walking alongside them in a
Speaker:spirit of genuine partnership and respect.
Speaker:Reconciliation is a journey that requires humility,
Speaker:intentionality, and the willingness to face uncomfortable truths. So
Speaker:as we listen to our guests, let their words inspire you to strive
Speaker:for meaningful change in your life and in your community.
Speaker:By embracing reconciliation, we bring to life the call to love our neighbors
Speaker:as ourselves, promoting healing, restoring dignity, and
Speaker:nurturing relationships. This process can be challenging, but
Speaker:it's vital for fostering a world that reflects the fullness of God's
Speaker:kingdom. So here we go. First, let's hear from Jimmy Thunder, an
Speaker:OG Cree MbA graduate who is currently serving in the
Speaker:premier's office here in Manitoba. We interviewed him in episode seven
Speaker:of season one and we asked what reconciliation means to
Speaker:him. Here's what he had to say.
Speaker:I would say reconciliation is when two parties
Speaker:come together, come to an agreement of a wrong being
Speaker:done, and have a renewed commitment to
Speaker:rebuild a relationship and to make amends and to commit to a better
Speaker:relationship into the future. Jimmy also works in partnership
Speaker:with circles of reconciliation. Here he shares a practical step
Speaker:that we can all take to participate in reconciliation.
Speaker:What we were seeing is that there's a lot of people who have this now
Speaker:renewed interest in learning about reconciliation and learning about our history.
Speaker:But it's just amazing to realize that we don't even
Speaker:have a common base yet to begin with. We're not even at square one
Speaker:together. And so a great starting point is to look at the
Speaker:work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Not only the final
Speaker:report and all the research that's been done, but even just start at
Speaker:square one and just look at the 94 calls to action. How many Canadians
Speaker:do we have even today that don't know what the 94 calls to action
Speaker:are? What's in there? What are the themes? And much
Speaker:less which one of the calls to action can they commit to working? And
Speaker:a lot of misconceptions are that the calls to action are directed towards the government,
Speaker:but it's actually meant for each member of canadian society. There's even a whole
Speaker:section for the church, isn't there? Exactly. Yeah, there definitely
Speaker:is. Let's go through all of these calls to action one by
Speaker:one, every day for 94 days. And let's commit to reading
Speaker:each and every one of them. And not just ourselves, but let's challenge all
Speaker:those around us, everyone in our networks, our organizations. Let's get people to
Speaker:read these and to commit to action on them.
Speaker:Next up, let's revisit our conversation with Doctor James Robertson of
Speaker:Tyndale University in Toronto. We sat down on episode
Speaker:eleven in season one to talk about his book, overlooked and the
Speaker:church's relationship and history with the indigenous peoples. In this
Speaker:clip, Doctor Robertson shares an illustration of what it means as a
Speaker:Christian to engage in 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 a baseline. Like, I'm just saying
Speaker:something about you or to you that you don't appreciate. You
Speaker:know, you're like, okay, at first, well, you know, this is. James, I'm gonna let
Speaker:this go, but eventually, because we have a relationship. You bring it to my attention.
Speaker:Like, listen, this is how it's going. Well, now I have a choice. You know,
Speaker:I can be like, what. Do you mean, like that? And we can have all
Speaker:those fake sort of, I'm sorry that you feel that way. Those terrible apology apologies
Speaker:that are just reiterated for me. If
Speaker:I'm going to follow that Nazarene Carpenter, that super
Speaker:cool God of mine, human that lived 2000 years
Speaker:ago, I don't have an option other than to
Speaker:be like, I hear you. You're right. It is now my
Speaker:choice to value our friendship or
Speaker:my desires. And what Christ has taught me is that our friendship
Speaker:matters more in the economy of God and therefore my
Speaker:rights, my desires, which we've heard so much of in the
Speaker:past few years. And people reacting to that. And 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 too. 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 crosse. At the
Speaker:very least I can look at my sister in Christ and say, you know
Speaker: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
Speaker:do forgive you. Doctor Robertson then shared some
Speaker:of his concerns with reconciliation becoming a buzzword rather
Speaker:than facilitating change. Here's what he had to say.
Speaker:I think the damage to reconciliation now is, one, it will become trendy and like
Speaker:all trends, it'll go away. And this cannot go away. Right? And
Speaker:two, the words are better, but there's no sense
Speaker:of community, there's no actual respect for indigenous
Speaker:perspectives in a way that will actually facilitate change. And
Speaker:of course, the word for which I think is a great word for it, both
Speaker:biblically and realistically, the word reconciliation, that's what
Speaker:concerns me about the trajectory of settler and indigenous relations.
Speaker:Moving on to an earlier episode, episode ten of season one,
Speaker:our season one host, Melvina, sat down with Jennifer Mason, an
Speaker:Anishinaabe woman who is one of Melvina's fellow co workers at inner
Speaker:city youth alive here in Winnipeg, sharing what reconciliation means to
Speaker:her. Jesus is at the
Speaker:center of everything because of how real he is for
Speaker:me. And so everything always comes back to my faith.
Speaker:And so for me it stems from, you know, I
Speaker:grew up in a home, wherever Jesus was in the home.
Speaker:But what I learned was to
Speaker:know him well, to be a good Christian, meant that I couldn't
Speaker:be me. It meant that I had to learn how to look like
Speaker:someone else, to act like someone else, to be like someone else in order to
Speaker:be a good Christian. And it's been a really long journey, but
Speaker:for sure, actively, at least the last ten years, God has just showed me
Speaker:that all of that was wrong and taught me how to
Speaker:love myself. And that in that I am
Speaker:indigenous, he has intentionally made me
Speaker:Anishinaabe and all that that entails, and
Speaker:that he didn't make any mistakes. It wasn't, oops, I did this.
Speaker:You gotta figure out how to make it better. And, you know, he
Speaker:intentionally chose for me to be Anishinaabe. And he has
Speaker:been teaching me that. So my journey of reconciliation,
Speaker:it began to. 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 to be proud of that. And so, yeah,
Speaker:he's taught me to love myself and to be proud of the
Speaker:fact 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 one, 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
Speaker:you? I think
Speaker: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
Speaker:broken, there needs to be a time where you
Speaker:bring people together, you talk about what's
Speaker:happened, and then you try to fix and mendeze
Speaker:that relationship then. But it doesn't necessarily
Speaker:mean that you become best friends. Yeah, but it
Speaker:just means that there is nothing between you
Speaker:and the other person, but that you can be on
Speaker:friendly terms, not necessarily best friends, but at
Speaker:least you've talked about the thing that has come between
Speaker:you. And I guess even as when you think
Speaker:of the country we live in,
Speaker:and I don't know how we're gonna fix what's been
Speaker:broken in our country, that one is a bigger question.
Speaker:Moving ahead to season two, Tim, who is part of our executive team here at
Speaker:Care Impact, was our guest host and interview, 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:Nates, the 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 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
Speaker:study once a year or a few times a year, have different book groups.
Speaker:There are a lot, you know, a significant amount of
Speaker:indigenous authors following Jesus that you could
Speaker:incorporate. Your church should be doing that, particularly in Canada,
Speaker:in this land that we, that we now call Canada. This is something that it
Speaker:has been. It's part of how we think about things,
Speaker:this aspect of reconciliation with the re
Speaker:in parentheses, because I don't know if there's ever been
Speaker:conciliation to be re'd to.
Speaker:So Richard Twiss's book, any of his,
Speaker:Mark Charles's book on the doctrine of discovery would be a good one as
Speaker:well. And they have questions in them that you can go through as a
Speaker:group. They're built for group discussion. So
Speaker:get everybody in the church reading some of those, and if they are not
Speaker:even part of what you are thinking, the church leadership is
Speaker:thinking about incorporating to their church. I think that needs to be discussion.
Speaker:I think that's sort of that an internal thing the church can do.
Speaker:And I've talked about the personal, individual reflection
Speaker:kind of stuff of archaeology or theology, but I think
Speaker:just start celebrating with people. Go to
Speaker:powwow. There are gatherings and celebrations
Speaker:and dance competitions and things like that,
Speaker:and try to get your church group, your whatever
Speaker:community to go, whatever community is willing to go.
Speaker:This is an obligation for everybody across
Speaker:Turtle island, is to build that relationship. This is the land we're on. These are
Speaker:the treaties we're part of in any of those things.
Speaker:Let's take a hop back to episode five of season one with Melissa
Speaker:Spence. This is also our most listened to episode on the podcast
Speaker:so far. Melissa is a pastor's wife living here in treaty one in
Speaker:Winnipeg, and Melissa was asked what reconciliation means to
Speaker:her. So reconciliation to
Speaker:me is reconciling to God the father
Speaker:and learning to have that
Speaker:image, to take on his image in how we live
Speaker:our lives and see ourselves. So it's all about
Speaker:identity in him and what Jesus done for
Speaker:us. So Jesus is a prime example of
Speaker:what we here on earth should be where his kingdom is.
Speaker:The kingdom is us, and we need to
Speaker:reconsult him so that God could be glorified.
Speaker:It's actually the Lord our father who actually started the
Speaker:reconciliation process, and when he sent his son to
Speaker:die for us. So in my mindset before, I used to
Speaker:think that the lord sent his son so that
Speaker:he could love us again. But that's not the case. That he
Speaker:actually sent his son because he loved us, not
Speaker:to make him love us. In religion, it
Speaker:teaches you that we have to work for his
Speaker:love. It just comes out in that story of the prodigal
Speaker:son. We call it the prodigal son, but I think I'd rather call
Speaker:it the sons, the elder and the prodigal. And so
Speaker:I was kind of like that elder son who had everything
Speaker:that the father had. It was living in his household, and
Speaker:he was the oldest son and he had double
Speaker:portion of the inheritance, but he didn't see that.
Speaker:And so he was working. And why, you know, you
Speaker:see this whole conversation with the elder son
Speaker:and the father when they're talking about the prodigal son, like,
Speaker:you didn't kill the fatty calf for me. And
Speaker:the Lord said, everything I have is yours. Yes. And he could have just
Speaker:killed a calf whenever he wanted to. And
Speaker:so reconciliation, I think, is just
Speaker:understanding that Jesus died on the cross for us.
Speaker:Rose was buried and Rose again so that
Speaker:he could reveal the father to us.
Speaker:In episode 20 of season two, Wendy sat down with Lynn
Speaker:Dick, executive director of the Evangelical
Speaker:Mennonite Mission conference. Lynn discussed being a settler
Speaker:and then his experience fostering children with indigenous heritage.
Speaker:Here's what he had to say.
Speaker:So your path into fostering was through respite, and you got a
Speaker:feel, and obviously it tugged on your heart that maybe
Speaker:this is something that I could offer in a parenting role
Speaker:and provide a safe and nurturing home. How was that
Speaker:leap 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: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
Speaker:a great need there, and we wanted to learn.
Speaker:We already were looking at it at that time already. There's
Speaker:got to 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 even. Was
Speaker:even a thing. But we just felt like God was saying to
Speaker:us, you guys gotta put yourself out there and do something like this.
Speaker:So when we had our first placement,
Speaker:it was like trial by fire. We had a
Speaker:two and a half year old little guy that came to. To be with us,
Speaker:and he was just, wow, he was
Speaker:like. He was a whirlwind, right? Like, he came in
Speaker:and energy galore. He had some
Speaker:disabilities that arose from being fas, so
Speaker:he was ADHD and different kind of things like that. And,
Speaker:you know, when you first go into some of these things, you have this idyllic
Speaker:thing of, oh, we're gonna. Really just love
Speaker:the child. We're just gonna love the child, and it's all gonna
Speaker:be wonderful. And it was like, oh, my goodness.
Speaker:We started to say that, you know, this little guy was.
Speaker:Was our spiritual exercise, right? And if you think about it,
Speaker:when you think of doing any kind of exercise, if you want to build a
Speaker:muscle to get stronger, you put resistance to it. Right? What do we
Speaker:learn through different trials? How does that. How do we learn to be
Speaker:resilient in another area? And that was what we were learning here.
Speaker:This was. We were learning something here. We were learning about
Speaker:a family, about a situation. We got to be his, his
Speaker:parents for three and a half years until he was able to
Speaker:transition back to be with his. With his mother and with his other
Speaker:brothers and sisters. It was a really neat process. And did you
Speaker:learn a lot about his indigeneity in that
Speaker:process? Mm hmm. I mean, one of the things that it allowed us to do
Speaker:was to become part of the community. We got to
Speaker:learn and get to know the social workers who, the majority of
Speaker:them were indigenous. We get to learn about his community that he was part
Speaker:of, go to the celebrations, to the powwows, because one of the
Speaker:things that we wanted to make sure was, we didn't want.
Speaker:I hope this sounds not too strange, but we didn't want him to become
Speaker:white. We wanted him to be able to be part
Speaker:of, you know, our lives,
Speaker:but to gain an understanding of who he was,
Speaker:what his heritage was, and that he could be proud of
Speaker:that, to help him to learn those things. And in the process, we
Speaker:were learning as well.
Speaker:Next we hear from Jared Ross, who shared his story walking through
Speaker:trauma. And even though he's a young adult, he talks about the
Speaker:implications that residential schools had on him and his family.
Speaker:I sat down with Jared to share a story in a two part series in
Speaker:episodes four and five in season two. Really inspiring
Speaker:story. But here's what he had to say about what reconciliation means to
Speaker:him. So I think, like,
Speaker: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, reconciliation out of two corinthians
Speaker:518 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 Goddesse, you know. And I
Speaker:think that's just the way I viewed reconciliation was just like, okay,
Speaker:that's what I want from my people as well. And seeing that vision and also
Speaker:just the revelation scripture
Speaker:that I mentioned, the Ministry of Reconciliation to me just means like,
Speaker:you know, I want them to be healed from this trauma that
Speaker:came from residential schools. I feel like if we go through that and also
Speaker:just walk through that healing of what happened to, but also just
Speaker:not carrying that shame anymore, I feel like we'll just see
Speaker:such a huge revival that comes out of the First nations people. There's so many
Speaker:young people who are still walking through what I did and not
Speaker:getting the gospel in such a true form. And I
Speaker:feel like once they understand on the healing process,
Speaker:but also understanding the true gospel, I feel like the youth are the key to
Speaker:reach out to every youth in Canada. And I feel like
Speaker:this revival would just start from the First nations people.
Speaker:Another interview that Tim led, he sat down with Ray Aldred,
Speaker:an author and status Cree from northern Alberta and director of the
Speaker:indigenous studies at the Vancouver School of theology.
Speaker:And he shared his perspective on the common Bolan treaties and their
Speaker:relationship 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
Speaker:I learned about called Salcha, 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 where the residential schools, that's what paid for
Speaker:it. The treaty among the six nations
Speaker:with the newcomers is called the common bowl
Speaker:aspect that are called the common bowl. We all eat from the same
Speaker:bowl. One of the privileges of living in this land is
Speaker:that to be fed, to be fed by Mother
Speaker:Earth, to be able to enjoy the bounty of Mother Earth, this is to
Speaker:share with everybody. The idea, though, is that everybody should
Speaker:share, not that some should have all of it or others shouldn't have
Speaker:all of it. And it's not a merit based kind of a thing.
Speaker:It is what it means to live in connection with
Speaker:of the earth, to be able to be fed. A
Speaker:friend of mine said indigenous people were advocating
Speaker:for universal Medicare long before Tommy Douglas
Speaker:did. This was part of their thinking in
Speaker:making the treaty. This is why they would always say that this when they were
Speaker:making treaty in one place. They said this needed to apply to everybody,
Speaker:all the first nations and all of Canada when it was talking
Speaker:about providing the medicine chest, as it's
Speaker:called in some of the number treaties. So the idea is
Speaker:that human beings are sacred. They're sacred
Speaker:beings, so we should be respectful of
Speaker:them.
Speaker:On our second last clip, we're going to hear from Wendy, our beloved host
Speaker:and co founder of Care Impact. This was taken from episode 13
Speaker:of season two, where the tables were actually flipped. Here wendy was actually
Speaker:being interviewed by doctor James Robertson, whom you heard from earlier a little
Speaker:bit on organizations and the church working together for the purpose of
Speaker:reconciliation, something that she's really passionate about.
Speaker:There's so many good organizations. There's tons of assets in all the cities across
Speaker:Canada, tons of programs and oodles of
Speaker:resources being thrown at these nonprofits, and a lot of them doing
Speaker:good things, but they just don't communicate, particularly with the
Speaker:church. And when we wanted to go into saying,
Speaker:hey, I think we are feeling called, look at the research on residential schools and
Speaker:the tie with the church. We've got to do something. We've got to like,
Speaker:nobody's talking about it in the sanctuaries, at least in my tradition
Speaker:and the circles I was in. Why isn't anybody talking about
Speaker:this? I was warned by very prominent
Speaker:leaders saying, oh, that's nice, but just don't go there. That just gets
Speaker:messy. Just talk about children and families. But let's not go
Speaker:into the TRC or reconciliation because that's just another
Speaker:thing that's more political. And I'm like, reconciliation is the
Speaker:gospel. Reconciliation is so central to the Bible,
Speaker:and yet somehow we've tailored that out. In
Speaker:whatever denomination, it's been easy to tailor it out. We
Speaker:curate our own narrative, right? We curate our own theologies
Speaker:and to our convenience, because that hurts. I've
Speaker:seen people squirm, but fortunately, God gave me the gift of making
Speaker:people squirm. And I don't mind that, because I think we need to go there.
Speaker:It's not a condemning thing. It's just like, if we're gonna find healing, let's not
Speaker:pathologize the indigenous. Let's not pathologize the one that can't keep the job
Speaker:or the homeless, the cycle of poverty. Let's
Speaker:pathologize the church and see. Okay, where's this stemming from?
Speaker:And why aren't we effective in our ministries?
Speaker:Why is it us and them? Why can't it be we?
Speaker:And I want to see a lot more
Speaker:collaboration we ing, if you call that
Speaker:with people. But I think we can do a lot
Speaker:more togetherness. To close out our
Speaker:episode. Today, we're going to hear from pastor Harold Jolly,
Speaker:Karen Jolly's husband, whom you also heard from earlier. This is taken from
Speaker:the episode the estranged indigenous from the loving the Stranger among us
Speaker:series, which is episode 32 in season two.
Speaker:Harold shares both from a pastoral and indigenous perspective
Speaker:of what reconciliation means.
Speaker:There's a brighter day coming, and even in the midst of
Speaker:darkness, you know, in the midst of chaos, there's this call
Speaker:to trust God and that 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
Speaker:God. So in talking about them, there's something in it that
Speaker:we're not just talking about it to make people feel guilty or, you know, or
Speaker:to talk down to people or to hurt people, but there's something in it that
Speaker:as we talk about those things, that we're trying to bring
Speaker:reconciliation, that we're trying to bring unity. The way that I think of
Speaker:it is like we're trying to break forth the kingdom of God, you know, that
Speaker:the kingdom of God would be present in this world. And the idea of that
Speaker:happening is the reconciliation that happens. And I think that there's
Speaker:something very powerful about acknowledging the pain
Speaker:of and about tears being in that, and also
Speaker:to people coming together and saying, will you forgive me
Speaker:or forgive my people? And a person saying, I forgive,
Speaker:you know, I forgive. Not just superficial, but in
Speaker:light of all that's happened, I choose to forgive. So, for
Speaker:example, not superficial would look like what
Speaker:day to day. Oh, man. I guess just the
Speaker:hearing of stories, just the embracing of each other,
Speaker:just building friendships. Close friendships. I have close friends that are
Speaker:caucasian, you know, and very close friends that are caucasian. And I work with
Speaker:people that are caucasian, they're very encouraging
Speaker:and I think that we acknowledge the history and we
Speaker:talk about it and we work through it together. And you go
Speaker:golfing? I go golfing. You go golfing with them? Play hockey.
Speaker:Yeah, I spend time, spend time with them. I think that's huge. Yeah. Oh yeah.
Speaker:Just enjoying being around each other.
Speaker:I want to remind you that to continue to reflect on the importance of
Speaker:this day, you can also find our episode from last year's day for truth and
Speaker:reconciliation, season two, episode 25 learning
Speaker:every day powerful father son story of reconciliation.
Speaker:We had a ton of great feedback for that episode, so I encourage you to
Speaker:check that out as you reflect on the importance of this day. You can find
Speaker:that there in the show notes if you want to click on that. But thank
Speaker:you for joining us on this special episode of Journey with care. We trust that
Speaker:the stories, reflections and heartfelt messages shared by our
Speaker:guests have inspired and moved you. That this national day for truth
Speaker:and reconciliation be a reminder of our shared responsibility to
Speaker:uphold justice, compassion and unite our communities.
Speaker:Reconciliation is not a one time event, but an ongoing
Speaker:journey that calls each of us to act with grace, courage and
Speaker:sincerity. Take what you've heard today and consider how you can contribute
Speaker:to this mission in your daily life. Whether it's through educating
Speaker:yourself, sharing episodes like this one, engaging in
Speaker:honest conversations, or supporting indigenous led
Speaker:initiatives, every step you take matters. Let's commit to being
Speaker:agents of change, fostering environments where every voice is heard and
Speaker:valued. Together we can build a future rooted in trust,
Speaker:respect and harmony. Thank you and God
Speaker:bless.
Speaker:Thank you for joining another conversation on journey with care
Speaker:where we inspire curious Canadians on their path of faith
Speaker:and living life with purpose and community. Journey with Care is an
Speaker:initiative of Care Impact, a canadian charity dedicated to
Speaker:connecting and equipping the whole church to journey well in
Speaker:community. You can visit their website at CareImpact CA or visit
Speaker:Journeywithcare CA to get more information on weekly episodes,
Speaker:journey with prayer, and details about our upcoming events and
Speaker:meetups. You can also leave us a message, share your thoughts,
Speaker:and connect with like minded individuals who are on their own journeys of
Speaker:faith and purpose. Thank you for sharing this podcast and helping
Speaker:these stories reach the community. Together we can explore ways to
Speaker:journey in a good way and always remember to stay curious.
