Today marks the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. It's a day to honour and remember the children who died in residential schools, those who survived, their families, and communities. Growing up I didn't know anything about residential schools and their tragic history. While I don't remember learning much of anything about indigenous peoples in Canada, let along residential schools in my elementary education, I remember holding arrowheads in my hands that were found in the fields surrounding my grandparents farmhouse. I'm not sure who found them but they were a reminder of the inhabitants during a time before the land was cleared and farmed.
I cannot imagine being forced from my home into a world where foreigners set the rules and held the power. It's the story of Canada's indigenous peoples and it's also the story of Israel's Babylonian exile. This morning I read Psalm 137 as part of my devotional reading. It was written for a people by a people who had been driven from their homeland and resettled by foreigners. I think it's a good Psalm for a day marking Truth and I pray for Reconciliation once we can come to terms with the stark conclusion in this passage:
Psalm 137 (The Message)
137 1-3 Alongside Babylon’s rivers
we sat on the banks; we cried and cried,
remembering the good old days in Zion.
Alongside the quaking aspens
we stacked our unplayed harps;
That’s where our captors demanded songs,
sarcastic and mocking:
“Sing us a happy Zion song!”
4-6 Oh, how could we ever sing God’s song
in this wasteland?
If I ever forget you, Jerusalem,
let my fingers wither and fall off like leaves.
Let my tongue swell and turn black
if I fail to remember you,
If I fail, O dear Jerusalem,
to honor you as my greatest.
7-9 God, remember those Edomites,
and remember the ruin of Jerusalem,
That day they yelled out,
“Wreck it, smash it to bits!”
And you, Babylonians—ravagers!
A reward to whoever gets back at you
for all you’ve done to us;
Yes, a reward to the one who grabs your babies
and smashes their heads on the rocks!
