Prayer for June 28, 2021
 
I’ve been wondering about Canada Day.  I think about how the country was founded and how normal it was considered in all of it.  People come, take over, and make it their own.  It was conquest.  It’s our history.  Often in history, though, we don’t see the other side.  And I like learning all sides of the story.  The reality is that when one side wins, another side loses.  It’s what we’ve been raised to believe in.  Someone must win. Someone must lose.  It doesn’t matter what the consequence of losing is, as long as there’s a winner.
 
I get to talk to a lot of young folks.  We talk about school and jobs and home life.  The more they tell me their experiences of the workplace, it makes me think of conquest a bit too.  We are surrounded by people who treat others horribly.  We have managers that thrive on and are celebrated for their abusive management styles.  They get things done. They make people act.
 
I remember one young person telling me how they cried when they got home from work because of how a manager treated them.  The manager had been in the job for a long time and is seen as effective, but man… they treated people horribly… those who are trying their best and have some other personal struggles they are dealing with.  There were times we talked the young person leaving the job as suicidal thoughts emerged and they lost their self-worth and confidence in a mere month of working there.
 
I encouraged this person to tell someone, and yet when then talked to other employees, they were told it’s not worth it.  Nothing changes.  No one listens.  Just do your job and go home.
 
I think we are in a phase of awakening.  The harms others have done over time, no matter how normal they were in that time and context, are being strongly heard.  I think of it as we look at the scandals in Hollywood where potential stars were abused or misled in order to get ahead; for our Indigenous families who have been struggling to be heard all these years; for our employees who are being mistreated; and essentially – those with power and privilege and who have been abusing them, are being shone a light on. 
 
So what can we do?  When someone tells us something that is troubling, I believe we have an obligation to listen.  Then we have an obligation to support.  We could offer advice, but instead, I encourage us to ask the one sharing their story, what kind of support they would like.  Advice is not always wanted and is not always helpful.  It’s usually only so if it’s asked for.  Often, advice is not asked for.  It’s just freely given… and we forget that there’s much more to what is shared.
 
For me, as I continue to read stories and do more research on what I can do as a Canadian who aches with the Indigenous communities, I will be honouring them on Canada Day with a prayer of mourning.  In some ways, I wish we could make Canada Day and a Day of Mourning on the same day.  That way we recognize the good things Canada is, but also the harm our country has done in getting there.
 
I know there will be those who disagree with me and that’s okay.  This is all still kind of fresh and raw for all of us.  This is just where I am right now.  I encourage us all to look at the harms that are normalized in our world and to start flipping those things upside down and shaking them up.  Now is our time to shine for the good of all.
 
A prayer for today:
O Holy One, it’s only Monday morning and yet our hearts may be heavy.  I ask you to continue to stir us and to encourage us for the purpose of good of all creation.  We are in for a few really hot days, so keep us safe, O God.  Help us to find relief from the heat in a safe way.  I ask that you hold us all in your heart and loving arms as we navigate this crazy world we live in.  Help us to heal and grow. Help us to learn and thrive. Help us to live into that which we are called to be.  In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

It’s been a tough couple of days as we hear about another Residential School gravesite count in Saskatchewan.  My heart goes out to all those whose pain is sparked again.
 
Today, I find it hard to pray.  And so I share some of my personal journaling with you from today.  It is a prayer I wrote with a kind of historic perspective – a prayer for those who came to build Canada.  It might not be a prayer you agree with, but take it in.  It is raw and unedited and is a personal opinion.
 
O Divine Creator and Loving Spirit, as our men come onto new land, be with them.
Be with them as they discover the new land and whether we can inhabit it.
Be with them as they may possibly meet people.  May they find a way to communicate in a good way.
 
Be with them in their hearts.
I understand this new land may have great hopes and futures for us who want to start over in a new place.  I hope that, if we encounter other people who are already there, that we can coexist in a good way.  I hope that we can learn from them and be in close community with them. 
I hope that the powers that be may step away from political, religious, or even personal agendas. 
 
God, in the historic nature of our faith, we take over and convert others.  Guide us. Nurture us. Remind us that you are in all things and all people already.  That we may have different ways of expressing you, how we understand you, how we practice what it means to be and do good in this world.  Help us to discover those things within each other and to see how much bigger you are because of that.
 
God, take away the destructive nature we hold within.  Remove any fears we may hold if we meet others. And if there is fear, simply because of the unknown, may we be hesitant and careful, but also open and willing to the encounters and experiences to come.
 
If we make promises, O God, help us to keep them and to live them out in a good and honest way.
 
Keep us humble, keep us faithful and keep us open.
Keep us safe, keep us worthy, and keep us excited for what is to come.
 
I pray this in the name of the One who died for all of us,
Amen.
 
 
My prayer for us all today is that God helps us to take care of each other and to hold our hearts tightly in comfort and grace.

June 18, 2021 Prayer
 
Good morning friends.  Another weekend in a pandemic is upon us.  And it’s Father’s Day.  It’s been well over a year since I’ve seen my dads and I wonder about visiting them this weekend.  Most of us have only had one dose of our vaccination which makes me hesitant.  I know we can safely visit outdoors but it’s the long drive there and back and the need for bathrooms, fueling up, and food along the way that has me most resistant.  I feel like if we can just wait another month, we can celebrate a delayed Father’s Day and have visits without concerns/fears.  
 
It makes me wonder about God, who many call their Divine Father.  I’m so glad that I know God is with me and around me at all times and that I never walk alone in the dark times of life.  I pray that my dads know God’s love, comfort and grace and even if they don’t have the same faith I do, I know it’s there.  What are you up to for Father’s Day?
 
A prayer for us today:
O Holy One, thank you for being there for us, like a parent but even more.  Thank you for all the gifts in our lives and for the blessings our mistakes have given us along the way.  Today we pray for all the men in our lives.  Many are fathers or father-like to us and we give thanks for their guidance, wisdom, and love through the years.  We pray for all those who are missing their dads and pray that the memories they have of their dads will give them strength this day.  We give thanks to the women who have taken on the mother and father roles in our lives.  And for those who are fathers, we give thanks for the children they have been blessed with and ask for continued patience, understanding and unending love.
 
God, protect the men in our lives as their strength and courage, their determination and their grit has helped us along the way.  May they feel loved all weekend and all year long.
 
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

A prayer for June 14, 2021
 
In just one week, Canada will recognize National Indigenous Peoples Day.  As I want to celebrate and recognize this day, I continue to do so in education – learning more about what generations of indigenous folks have experienced.
 
Today, I thought I’d share a “did you know”.  This is an informal list that has much more information than what is given and are things I have merely learned along they way.  This is not an extensive list by any means but something I hope will help as we learn and grow together:

1. Diseases were intentionally spread throughout Indigenous communities
2. Government takes authority over land
3. Treaties were signed under false pretenses
4. The Indian Act was introduced to assimilate Indigenous people
5. Residential School System = cultural genocide (“destruction of those structures and practices that allow the people to continue as a group.”)

• The Mohawk Institute was the first school to accept boarders in 1831.  About 80 schools ran at the peak of the system. The last school closed in 1996.
  
• Removal of children from their families and communities and was mandatory
• School staff were often poorly trained or
• Destruction of their language and practices
• Isolation from siblings
• Included scientific research experiences on children without their knowledge or any consent (nutrition, vaccines and studies on extrasensory perception, amebicides, isoniazid, hemoglobin, bedwetting and dermatoglyphics)
• Malnutrition and neglect
• Abuse (sexual, physical, cultural, mental)
  
• Advertisements/documents presented on TV back in time of their existence included false promises of food and better treatment if they presented themselves well and happy
• Buildings, programs, etc. were often under-funded and in great disrepair
• Parents wishing to visit their children in the schools was strictly controlled (similar to the prison system) and access to their children was not guaranteed, especially if parents did not speak English
• Goal was assimilation, vocational training and social skills but many came out failing in both areas – often learning vocational skills (like farming) they would have learned at home and learning to read, write and speak English was poorly done
• Mortality rates may never be known accurately. It is written that at least 30%-60% of students died each year. (This number rose after students left the schools)
• Parent protests that continued for years started challenging change

1. Indigenous people to served in WWI were denied benefits
2. Indigenous Women ceased to be “Indian” if they married a non-Indian or a non-treaty Indian but was amended in 1985 – but status still is determined on lineage
3. Sixties Scoop – large-scale removal of over 20,000 Indigenous children in Canada
4. In July 1960, Status Indians would receive the right to vote
5. Murdered & Missing Indigenous Women
6. Forced sterilization of Indigenous women
7. Lack of clean water – 73% of First Nations’ water systems are at high or medium risk of contamination

 
The top 8 Indigenous Issues that exist today: https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/8-key-issues-for-indigenous-peoples-in-canada

1. Poorer health
2. Lower levels of education
3. Inadequate housing and crowded living conditions
4. Lower income levels
5. Higher rates of unemployment
6. Higher levels of incarceration
7. Higher death rate among children & youth due to unintentional injuries
8. Higher rates of suicide
   
   

I really encourage us all to learn more about the history so that we can understand our people better. 
 
A prayer for us today:
O Holy One, firstly, I give thanks for the safeties and securities I have been privileged with in my life.  I thank you that I have the freedom to come and go as I wish with little to fear.  But God, that is not the experience for all our brothers and sisters.  As we are challenged to unlearn and relearn history, help us to keep open hearts and minds.  Help us to acknowledge anything within us that is not love or empathy or compassion.  If we have the time and the mental energy, challenge us to look at the timing of our own lives and our education and see what things were different for us vs. them and how our lives have differed as a result.  God, it is my prayer that even as we look at the negatives of all the things our brothers and sisters have experienced, that we can come together and celebrate with them that are being heard and we are learning and growing with them in our own way.  Help us to discover what we can do to support and walk with all your people in this world.
 
As we begin our week, keep our world in your loving embrace, healing and protecting us within the pandemic and living into hope that things are getting better.  Guide us in every hour. Encourage us to live with purpose. And help us to reach out to each other.  In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Today is one of those days.  You know the days you think you have everything in hand and then have a moment where you forgot an important thing?  Yep.  That’s today.  My apologies for the delay in posting.  No tech reason, just COVID brain, really. 
 
On my heart today is our Muslim brothers and sisters.  I’m thinking of the London family who was tragically ran down by a vehicle, where four were killed and a lone little fella survives.  I understand there is a march in London tonight and Muslims of Dufferin are holding an evening of prayers in honour of the victims of the hate crime in London.  Their poster reads “join us for Du’aa, reflection, love, solidarity and condolences” at 294 Broadway in Orangeville at 8:15pm tonight.  Follow health guidelines, wear masks and bring your prayer mat.
 
I don’t quite understand why there are still hate crimes in this time.  I can’t fathom what it means to have so much hatred in one’s heart to do such harm to others.  There is so much going on in the world right now, that I can’t imagine that one’s disagreement with another would cause such a state of mind that would make that a priority over so many other things in the world.  So, friends, I ask that if you have are feeling strong hatred toward another, to find someone to talk to.  It can be a friend or a professional or even someone who associates with or is connected to ‘the other’.  It’s my prayer that there exists something to bridge the gap and to help us to move and grow. 
 
May we hold onto ‘love yourself and love your neighbours’ as we think about what it means to live in our world.  
 
My prayer today:
O God of all, you created us to be together in this world in this time and so we reach out to you for help.  Guide our hearts and our minds into what  and how to be with each other.  Help us to search the dark things within and to confront them.  And I pray that we confront them with love – so much love that the darkness disappears.  Where we disagree with another, O God, help us to listen.  Help us to grow. Help us to find common ground.  Where we cannot find a way to love our neighbour, help us to coexist in a peaceful way without causing each other harm.  For most of us are doing good in this world.  Most of us are good.  Help us to find the good in all, remembering that one action from one person that may result in sparking anger within us, is usually just a passing moment.  Either a bad moment for us or for them.  And on the grand timeline of life, it really can be nothing and we can focus on bigger things that need our focus.  Be with us, O Loving and Living God, as we stand together with those who experience hate crimes. Be with our brothers and sisters who are feeling targeted. Help us to be and do better in this world and to be a louder voice and even louder in action to stand up for a better world.   In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

A prayer for June 07, 2021
 
Another Monday is upon us. Oddly, I went to bed a little earlier than usual last night and had a hard time getting out of bed today. It doesn’t happen to often, but obviously my body, mind and soul were tired. Fortunately, my schedule allowed for this rest. But then, I also have an Apple Watch that charges overnight and I picked it up and it’s telling me it’s time to stand. You see, I have it programmed to help me get at least 45 minutes of movement, 45 minutes of exercise (determined by heartrate not movement) and 12 hours of standing. Lately, I’m motivated to do my best to reach all three of these goals, even as my leg is healing. Biking indoors does not cause my leg more pain, so I take advantage of it as it’s also how I get my best cardio in right now. As much as my body wanted even more rest, my healthy conscious was saying “get up out of bed or you’re not going to get these all done today.” It’s still possible that I won’t due to some things going on today, but if I’m committed, I can do it.

What is helping you to stay on track with the things you are doing? How are you letting go of self-guilt if you don’t reach a goal in your day or week?

A prayer for us today:
O Holy One, we thank you for this day. We thank you for another week that is being laid down before us. As we start our week, help us to stay positive and make some simple, practical and realistic goals to achieve. Help us to stay motivated, to take initiative, and to be the best you call us to be.

Surround all those who are going through tough stuff, O God. I think of our friends who are in hospital, those who are nearing the end of their lives, those who are getting tests done and getting results that they weren’t hoping for, those who are waiting for surgery and so much more; those who are homeless, those who are not able to find a cool place to be this week; those who are hungry. Help us to help them in whatever way we can.

Continue to be in our hearts, opening our minds and our souls to things we might resist and/or we might not ever imagine could be. Give us strength, courage, and perseverance this week. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.