remember, we are part of all that is

During high school I remember a remarkable feeling when, after growing up as a preachers kid (pk) of the United Church, the United Church and the Canadian government accepted equal responsibility for the social disruption and hurt of the Residential schools across the country.

As a part of the United Church I needed process, I wanted to be active in this reconciliation, that my religious ancestors had been a driving force in the intentional social disruption of peoples across the continent who lived within paradigms much older than that of our Christian ways.

That was in the 1990's, and for years there has been silence inside of me, a shadow in my identity, not of questions, but where questions had not yet been named.

As a church family, why had we not been humble enough to grow through this historical process? Was this not a necessary and rich process for spiritual health?

...

Recently I have met some people who work with Kevin Annett http://www.hiddenfromhistory.org/ As a united church minister who had been fired for creating space in the Port Alberni congregation to hear the stories of people's experiences in the Alberni school, Kevin was a voice for my voicelessness.

My spiritual life, as is my physical life, is continuous.
In this way spiritual practice is how I meet my needs.
It is in this moment, writing these words, that I experience my potential.
It is in this moment, that I am alive.

The tears that I cried were few but beautiful.
As my silent implicitness opened,
I cried because I could feel.

People were talking.
People are talking.

Although it is important for me to hear the stories of those who experienced residential schools as children and students. It is important for me to share these stories with my united church family, and settler communities, to speak about the systems of power that benefit the few while impoverishing the majority.

The majority of people.
of earth
of species
of spirits
The majority of experiences of this life are of survival.

I am interested in living a life of celebration. That every day we recieve unquantafiable amounts of love from the sun. That we are alive. That because anything exists is worthy of celebration.

The path to celebration involves reconciliation.
As I continue to surrender my pride I follow my path of spiritual wealth.

...

I don't believe
creator only communicates
with the ordained

The child
in awareness
asked baby brother
"remind me what God is,
I'm beginning to forget"

As body develops
As mind develops
As relationship develops
so too must our spirit

As a child
As an infant
Let us remember
that we are part of all that is.

As Byrd Baylor writes in 'Another Way to Listen'
" 'Take the horned toad,
for example.
If you think
you're
better
than a horned toad
you'll
never
hear its voice -
even if you
sit there in the sun
forever.'

'Don't be ashamed to learn from bugs
or sand
or anything.'

I said,
'I won't.' "


To view a full length documentary online, go to: http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-6637396204037343133&ei=7IAhSfXOHJSM-QGFnOjoBg&q=kevin+annett&hl=en