The Color of Atonement

"I the Lord your God am a jealous God,

visiting the sins of the fathers on the children

to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me…”

(Exodus 20.5-6)

Last Saturday I participated in a first nations "water ceremony" at the home of Roy and Judy Louis along the banks of the Battle River - a blessing and honoring of earth's gift of life to us. The Louis farm is on Maskwacis land (meaning "bend in the river"); land that was long ago set aside as an "Indian reserve." Among the many speakers for the day was an aboriginal Australian named John Clarke, grandson of author Banjo Clarke. Banjo's autobiography (published posthumously) entitled, Wisdom Man, tells the story of Australia's indigenous peoples and their struggles in the face of the effects of European colonialism. Banjo's story directly mirrors the path of Canadian aboriginal communities - stories of oppression, loss, hope and passion.

I am deeply saddened by the actions of my European ancestors as they spread across the earth during the colonial period. Everywhere they touched down they brought annihilation to people, culture, community, and ecology. The ripple effect of colonialism continues to touch the lives of millions of human beings today as government policies and common prejudice restrict access to basic human rights in numerous countries, including Canada. 

The hurt poured out upon the earth by our European ancestors has indeed been visited upon the children of indigenous peoples to the third and fourth generations and beyond. It carries on to this day, patterns of brokenness that fill our jails, our soup kitchens, our women's shelters. In the face of such overwhelming sorrow I wonder from where will atonement be found?

“I want to try making things right

because picking up the pieces

is way better than leaving them the way they are.” 

(Simone Elkeles, Perfect Chemistry)

In answer to my question two possibilities were given to me this week. The first comes from Banjo Clarke's writing. In the face of horrific brutalities, the aboriginal people of Australia assumed the position, as taught by the elders, that the white folk did these things because they were not fully human yet. These poor undeveloped white men needed compassion and forbearance so that they might grow into the fullness of their gifts. Consequently, for the most part, the aboriginal people accepted the pain laid upon them as the cost of compassion for the sake of growing humanity. It was, and still is, extreme compassion, extraordinary Love.

The second answer comes from my friend Rajan, who suggested that we cannot atone for the past, for it is gone, but that we atone for the present by acting in Love. He said that the ripple of the past touches us now, and that it is here that we seek to enact change, each of us living the values that undermine the hurt and oppression so prevalent in our world.

 Humanity, in all of its colors and shades, has brought upon itself terrible wounds, a letting of blood that cuts to the core of its heart. Perhaps like me, you would like to scream, "it's not my fault - I did not do these things!" But that would not be true, for all of us are complicit at some level in this unraveling of life's tapestry. So be it. It is also true, however, that each of us has the power to make change, to awaken to Love's call to be healers, to be menders of broken threads. Is that not atonement - that we acknowledge the stories of hurt, allowing them to empower us to acts of courage, passion, kindness, and strength for the renewal of all people?

“What happens when people open their hearts?"

"They get better.” 

(Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood)

Now is the time of opening humanity's heart. Christ came to forgive, and on the cross extended consummate forgiveness to all people of all time. We have been set free from the deeds of our ancestors, set free from the sins of the present, set free for the healing of today and tomorrow. What happens when people open their hearts? The world changes, the ripple of the past hits the shoreline of a new day and finally loses its energy. 

Join with me in a day of atonement - let this be the day that healing pours out through us, each of us, to renew, heal, and utterly fulfill the hopes of Banjo Clarke - that all of us would become fully human.  

I leave the last word to former US president, Robert F. Kennedy:

“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

(Robert F. Kennedy)

The color of atonement...

Love blossoming now.

Past, present

and future

collide

in

one act of

kindness

YOU

make

the

difference

Breathe

Pray

Love

To Ponder Further:

- From the Bible: "All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5.18)

"In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4.10)

- From Islam: "O you who have believed, repent to Allah with sincere repentance. Perhaps your Lord will remove from you your misdeeds and admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow" (Quran 66:8)

- From Hinduism: "Though a man be soiled with the sins of a lifetime, let him but love me, rightly resolved, in utter devotion. I see no sinner, that man is holy. Holiness soon shall refashion his nature to peace eternal. O son of Kunti, of this be certain: the man who loves me shall not perish. (Bhagavad Gita 9.30-31)