Creator God
thank you for Indigenous and Inuit communities,
strong after centuries of persecution.
Families with deep bonds of love,
wise with elders, rich in culture, lovers of the land,
speaking with powerful voices that cannot be silenced.
God of justice, God of love,
hear our prayer of lament for crimes committed:
for land taken, for children stolen.
for laws that hobbled culture,
for languages legislated out of existence,
for racist policies of every kind
that produced a wicked harvest of poverty.
You know how this toxic power dynamic
has warped the minds of oppressors
and left deep and lasting scars in the oppressed.
We live in uneasy times,
where hatred and prejudice are rampant,
and important decisions are being made
about the occupied traditional territories
where we live together.
Into this world, send the Prince of Peace,
who managed to balance justice and love
through his death on the cross.
Christ is the one who will help us find the way,
giving us ears to hear every voice,
and mouths to speak repentance,
and eyes to see paths we should walk,
and hands that reach out in friendship,
and shoulders willing to take on the burden
of our shared past.
From this place of brokenness give all of us
a vision of the future, peace-bright,
where children of every colour
have a place to stand, and a place to grow.
I am a Mennonite pastor currently teaching theology at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario. I’ve served congregations in Ontario and most recently, Alberta.