Sept. 27 – Orange Shirt Sunday

It is hard to write about Orange Shirt Sunday. Wearing orange on or around Sept. 30 means a lot of things. It means acknowledging that the Canadian government, in partnership with the churches, set up residential schools for more than a century in this country that were designed to break apart families and eliminate cultures that were millennia old. It means recognizing that the experiences in those schools created trauma for the students that had

effects over generations. It means walking with those who survived and those who are continuing to heal. For settler people, wearing orange means humility and bearing witness.

It also means hope.

So, this Sunday, we will wear orange.

September 27 is also the third Sunday in the Season of Creation. We’re following some verses from Job as a guide through this season, and so this week, we’ll ponder “Ask the Plants of the Earth and They Will Teach You” (Job 12:8). We’ll look at what Jesus said about mustard seeds (the tiniest seed that flourishes into a tree) and what we find in Genesis 1 about the creation of vegetation (plants yielding seed and fruit trees of every kind). Does not the idea of tiny things flourishing into things of beauty lend itself well to the rallying cry of “Every Child Matters?”

In the meantime, read Mark 4:30-32 and Genesis 1:11-13 and ponder the following:

1. When Jesus refers to the Kingdom of God as a mustard seed, what do you think he’s talking

about?

2. How will you bear witness this week to the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation?