Must the Wilderness be a Wasteland? July 13, 2014

Last month, about 600 of us made a pilgrimage to the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site out on the eastern plains of Colorado as an expression of our desire as United Methodists for at least a couple of reasons.  One was to know something of the atrocities felt by members of the Cheyenne and Arapaho American Indian Tribes for generations.  The other was as an expression of our desire to live into the theme of Annual Conference this year: Healing Relationships.  

I find that an interesting theme, not sure if "healing" is intended to describe "relationships" adjectivally or if it's supposed to be a verb, as in, "We working toward the healing of the relationships between United Methodists and Native Peoples."  Whatever..., it was profound.

After the pilgrimage on Friday, June 20th, we shared in a banquet with a dozen or so descendants of the Cheyenne and Arapaho survivors of the massacre.  More than profound, this was sacramental in the sense that something deeply spiritual was happening, something that felt like "healing", behind the sharing of the meal and the conversation that followed. 

It wasn't about "white guilt", and it wasn't about making reparations.  It was simply about acknowledgement and sharing in each other's lives and stories, with the goal of healing and understanding and mutual respect and love.  Beautiful...

As part of this, we were privileged to have with us a highly regarded Cheyenne woman and educator, Henrietta Mann, Ph.D.  She was one of the speaker/teachers who helped enliven our appreciation of our shared history through brilliant and deeply personal teaching and reflection.  One of the things she said in passing likened the voices of the massacred crying out from the sands of the Massacre site, as the messenger in Isaiah cried out, Isaiah 40:3-5:

  In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.  Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Those sparse verses and that experience sparks the theme for our traditional Sunday services on Sunday: "The Wilderness Need Not be a Wasteland".  We'll follow worship around 12 noon with a light luncheon and "talkback" session aimed at inviting interested folks in the congregation, community, whatever, to engage with us in this experience and see how we might engage in healing relationships with our Native American peoples in this area, particularly how we might participate in the 150th observance of the Sand Creek Massacre in November.

I hope you'll join us for worship this coming Sunday.  See you there.

Steve

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