2 Samuel 11:26-12 13a. v 13a Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”
King David had everything. He used his power for his own means, certainly not God’s. God sent Nathan to him to teach him about what he had done. Using a story about a rich man and a poor man King David instantly saw what the rich man had done was wrong. “David burned with anger against the man, was able to immediately decide on a penalty “And he must pay back four times the price of the lamb because he did this and had no pity.”
When it was pointed out to David that he was the rich man he realized that he did do something wrong.
Getting caught up in our own wants and needs and forgetting what we stand for as Christians unfortunately is not just something that happen to King David a long time ago. A lesson that was learn’t never to be repeated. It is something that us humans still do today. The residential school process is a good example of that. To try and destroy one culture over another, to treat vulnerable children in a less than loving way made those children ‘burn with anger.”
The first step in healing from a great hurt is to listen to those that are hurting. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission Of Canada started the process of collecting the stories of those who experienced residential school life. It is now closed as of December 18th 2015.
On going projects can now be found here links at the National Center for Truth and Reconciliation.
The NCTR Archives and Collections is the foundation for ongoing learning and research. Here, Survivors, their families, educators, researchers, and the public can examine the residential school system more deeply with the goal of fostering reconciliation and healing.
Having heard the stories, like King David , we must first realize that “we have sinned against the Lord”
Reconciliation is a process that requires two parties and is about relationships. CrossWalk hopes through this blog and through other processes starting in September 2021 to continue the process on a local level.
Prayer: Almighty God, I am so sorry for the sins that as a settler in Canada I am a part of which tried to force the culture out of the indigenous people. Open my ears and my heart to listen to the hurts that were caused by the Residential School process and guide me on the path of reconciliation. Amen
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