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| Image by Ken Lund |
A GREETING
May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.
(Psalm 25:21)
A READING
Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; but Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.’ And he laid his hands on them and went on his way.
(Matthew 19:13-15)
MUSIC
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
May the Lord give you increase, both you and your children.
(Psalm 115:14)
A POEM
The river is my sister—I am its daughter.
It is my hands when I drink from it,
my own eye when I am weeping,
and my desire when I ache like a yucca bell
in the night. The river says, Open your mouth to me,
and I will make you more.
Because even a river can be lonely,
even a river can die of thirst.
I am both—the river and its vessel.
It maps me alluvium. A net of moon-colored fish.
I've flashed through it like copper wire.
- from "The First Water is the Body," by Natalie Diaz
found on poetryinvoice.ca
VERSE OF THE DAY
The children of your servants shall live secure;
their offspring shall be established in your presence.
(Psalm 102:28)
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| "Children with Tree of Life" by Norval Morrisseau |
On this third and last day of reflecting on child prophets, we hear Jesus extending another teaching that focuses on children as an essential priority for building the realm of God. Children are not just a model for how to be in the world, he tells us, but they are who the work we do is for. The “kingdom of heaven” is another way of naming the realm of God, or the full realization of God’s will for humanity.
In the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) tradition, it is customary to consider what the world will be like for the seventh generation from the current one, whenever important decisions are being made about our world and its resources. For the Haudenosaunee, the principle is as much about relationships as it is about natural resources. Two young Indigenous activists (who are not Haudenosaunee) are raising hearts and minds to see and speak the truth in a similar spirit. Both women are water protectors who are not only expressing their ancestral understanding of the sacredness of water, but are also looking to preserve water itself for future generations.
Tokata Iron Eyes is a Sioux Lakota resident of Standing Rock reservation in South Dakota, where the confrontation around oil and gas pipelines and Indigenous American land and water rights came to a head in 2016 and continues today. Among the concerns about the pipeline for the Lakota people is the fear of oil spills and the contamination of water. (A fear shared by the energy producers, who re-routed the pipeline through Standing Rock out of fear that a spillage might contaminate urban drinking water in the state’s capital if the originally planned route was maintained.) Even from within her own protest and work in that struggle, Tokata Iron Eyes has encouraged all involved to have compassion. “Compassion is really vital to the human,” she has said, “it’s what keeps us human.” (Listen to her here.)
The sacredness of water is at the heart of the work of Anishinaabe activist Autumn Peltier, born and raised on Manitoulin Island, Ontario and a member of Wiikwemkoong First Nation there. Carrying on a tradition begun by her aunt Josephine Mandamin, a water walker, Peltier has spoken before the United Nations and was named Chief Water Commissioner for the Anishnabek Nation in 2019, at the age of fifteen. She is an active advocate for safe drinking water on Indigenous reserves. “Our water needs to be treated as human, with human rights,” she said to the UN in 2018. “We need to acknowledge our water with personhood so we can protect our waters.” (Listen to her here.)
When we work for justice, we are looking to end the suffering of our own and future generations. How can we uphold the work of youth activists and their communities with our own commitment to action?
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| Image by Manos Simonides |
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LC† Before the Cross is a project 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, and on Twitter. 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 to support extended offerings throughout the year. Thank you and peace be with you!
