 |
| North shore, PEI. Image by Timothy Neesam. |
†
A GREETING
I stretch out my hands to you;
my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah
(Psalm 143:6)
A READING
When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?’ Jesus said to them, ‘I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ And they argued with one another, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will say to us, “Why then did you not believe him?” But if we say, “Of human origin”, we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.’ So they answered Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ And he said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
(Matthew 21:23-27)
MUSIC
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
I waited patiently for the Lord;
God inclined to me and heard my cry,
drew me up from the desolate pit,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
God put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
(Psalm 40:1-3)
A POEM
So our calls for justice, recognition development will not be restricted
Our elders persisted, and so we are gifted
And now we’re the tide where all boats are lifted
And no notes omitted when our voices are heard
With one collective vision we take on the world
Because Declaration is more than a word
It’s an inherited fire that always has burned.
- excerpted from "We Are Not Done Yet," by El Jones
Follow the link to hear El Jones recite the whole poem aloud.
VERSE OF THE DAY
May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.
(Psalm 40:16)
†
 |
| Northeast shore, PEI. Image by Timothy Neesam |
In today’s reading, Jesus has a discussion with his elders in the temple about his authority. They want to know how he views his own authority and rather than answer directly, Jesus uses the moment to instead reply with a question about baptism: ’is baptism from heaven, or is it from a human being?’ What are the implications of either possibility?
Baptism will be a theme of some of the harder explorations we will make in the remaining days of this week, as we come up the St. Lawrence River from the Gulf of St. Lawrence. (Although the journey appears ‘downward’ on a map, in nautical terms we will be travelling upriver.) The cold Labrador Current and the warmer Gulf Stream pass through the Cabot Strait above Cape Breton to meet the Gaspé Current near the Magdalen Islands. Just south of there is Prince Edward Island.
Formerly known as St. John’s Island, the province has a large number of famous connections for Canadians and others, despite its status as the smallest province in the country. Anne of Green Gables was conceived and set here. Potatoes grown on the island are sold throughout the country. The shoreline is made of red clay and it was here that Canada’s confederation journey began.
PEI is also host to some of the harder history in our country. In the late 18th century, around the time of the American revolutionary war, the British colony of St. John’s Island (PEI) was anxious to entice settlers who were Loyalists, that is those Americans who didn’t really want to separate from Britain. One way was to promise those who came and settled that they could bring all their property with them, including their slaves. With the support of the church, in 1781, the colony leadership passed the Baptism of Slaves Shall Not Prevent Them from Bondage Act. During times of slavery in the United States, some slave owners had encouraged Christianity among the people they enslaved. (And the people themselves would form a very different Christian community of their own.) This meant that some enslaved people had been baptised. In the British colonies, there were those who questioned whether baptism meant that an individual was ‘free.’ The idea takes its cue from Paul’s work with the early Christian communities in which he preached often to those who had been enslaved, encouraging them to leave their places of bondage to join Christ-following communities. In PEI, in 1781, the Act reassured slave owners that they didn’t have to worry. Baptized slaves could still be in bondage. It would take forty years to repeal it.
Almost a century later, the men who formed the idea of a confederation, including Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first Prime Minister, had strong ties to slavery, employing/enslaving black people as domestic servants. During this time, there was an ethos of strong dislike and fear of Indigenous peoples (and concern about their numbers) that led the government to begin the development of residential schools. Baptising Indigenous children was a common part of arriving at these schools. As we now know, that experience led, in most cases, to grief, abuse and lost identity.
Baptism is meant to set us free as members of the body of Christ, as we become transformed in our discipleship. But what can we do to reconcile all the ways it has been used to control others? How can we examine our history in good faith to see if our actions have been serving God, or merely upholding the power of some human beings?' How do we form a new story?
* * * * * * * *
A STORY OF RESISTANCE
As enslaved peoples in Prince Edward Island began to be free, they needed a place to go. Samuel Martin, a former slave, tried to buy a parcel of land in Charlottetown and was prevented many times. When he finally was allowed to purchase, a community grew around him. The community became known as 'the Bog,' because the land was all marsh (and therefore not suitable for farming). The Bog eventually included a school, run by Sarah Harvie, who was its main schoolteacher for fifty years. The Bog also drew non-black peoples who were impoverished. Like Africville, today the historical significance of the Bog is hard to find tangible evidence of, as the area is mostly now filled with municipal buildings. The most recent adaptation of the "Anne" stories, Anne With an E, included characters and sequences set in the Bog.
Read more about the Bog in this CBC profile.
* * * * * * * *
Resources in today's devotion:
Scripture passages are taken from The New Revised Standard Version.
Measha Brueggergosman-Lee is an award-winning Canadian opera singer.
Read more about her here.
El Jones is a poet and educator living in African Nova Scotia. Learn more about her here.
To learn more about the history of slavery in Prince Edward Island, go here.
Isaac Stewart, who calls himself "PEI History Guy," has written a four-part excellent black history of Prince Edward Island. You can find Part 1 here, with links to the other sections at the bottom of the page.
†
LC† Streams of Living Justice is a devotional series of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help support the ongoing work.
Thank you and peace be with you!