The Healing Circle

Last updated on: October 21, 2014 at 9:41 pm by Elsie Dennis

The Healing Circle 2014-10-21T21:41:06-05:00 Elsie Dennis

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Photo credit: Kaze Gadway

What can we do to heal ourselves? How can we begin to heal from the sin of racism? Sin keeps us from being in full relationship with our Creator and each other.

Circles are strong symbols in many Native cultures. In nature, we see the sun, moon, Earth, and stars as circles. The seasons seem circular from the coldness and quiet of winter, to new growth in the spring and summer, and harvest time during the autumn. Life is a circle.

From my classes at the Native Ministries Consortium at the Vancouver School of Theology in Vancouver, B.C., we learned that the indigenous peoples did not have words for “religion” and “sin.” Our spiritual lives are interwoven with our very being, and we did not recognize any separation between our physical and spiritual lives. Worship was not compartmentalized to be done only on Sundays. Native days began and ended with prayer. Often, prayers were prayers of thanksgiving for a good harvest, for having enough, for comfort, sustenance, and beauty.

Sin was also a foreign concept. Native people saw life as a circle, and that behavior an individual needed to change would keep reappearing in that person’s life until he or she made better choices. Relatives would provide guidance and wisdom.

Healing also can be viewed in a circle with four quadrants. The first being awareness. We must pray for open hearts and open minds that are receptive to listening and learning. We must educate ourselves on issues of oppression, see the marginalized, and stay informed.

This means going beyond the history taught in schools, and learning about the Doctrine of Discovery, a series of papal bulls that sanctioned the enslavement of peoples on the coast of West Africa and in the Americas, the taking of indigenous land, and killing those peoples when deemed as being non-cooperative to the King and Queen’s wishes. Native people endured forced relocations, rape, enslavement, their children taken away and sent to boarding schools, attempted loss of language, customs, traditions, and attempted genocide.

An estimate of the indigenous populations of the Americas was 90 to 112 million when Christopher Columbus first arrived. By the 1900 U.S. Census, the Native population of the United States had been reduced to almost 250,000. Despite efforts to kill off and legislation to assimilate, Native people and cultures have endured and thrived.

The second component for healing is forgiveness on and by all sides. As difficult and painful and even nonsensical as this may be, we cannot move forward without forgiving the past and ongoing misdeeds. This does not mean accepting, approving, or minimizing past and current injustice. This means we recognize the sin, we are remorseful, that we repent, turning away from the sin of racism, and vow not to participate in it any longer.

These next sentences are difficult to write and I’m speculating may seem harsh to read. For Native people this means turning away from lateral oppression, internalized racism, and the hurt we do and have done to one another. The oppressed become oppressors themselves. We may question and put down those not seen as “being Native enough” or focus on perceptions of reservation versus urban-based divisions. Throughout history we have seen this happen, an oppressed group, such as the Puritans moving to America, and then they in turn become oppressive toward the Native people they meet.

The third part of this circle of healing is reconciliation. We must be in right relationship with each other. This will take prayers, time, meeting one another on neutral ground, good listening, patience, asking questions, waiting, and more listening. Assumptions must be left behind. The new must come ahead of what was tried and not done in the past. A joint commitment needs to be developed, understood and made in mutual agreement. Reconciliation is ongoing work calling for review of what’s occurring, what still needs to be done, and what’s next.

A final component of this healing circle is action. From the work of reconciliation, perhaps areas needing attention were identified. Action must be agreed upon by both parties. “We want to help. How do you need us to be helpful?” This can be anything from helping form an after-school homework assistance program to writing letters to the editor about supporting a name change for a sports team to peaceful participation in a march drawing attention to injustice.

In our Baptismal Covenant, we are asked and then respond:

“Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?”

The People: “I will, with God’s help.”

“Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?”

The People: “I will, with God’s help.” Those sentences are among our personal and corporate mission statements to bring Creator’s love into world, build up God’s kingdom now, and share Jesus’ messages of forgiveness, reconciliation, transformation, and peace.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

October 19, 2014

Learning to Love Gordon College [my Homophobic Alma Mater]

Next Post

October 20, 2014 re-imagining God

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Addiction Advent Atheism Authority Bible Cartoons Christian Year Christmas church church planting Civil Rights Community Contemplative Spirituality Culture emerging church Empire Eschatology Evangelism Events Gender Healing Humanism Islam Justice Kingdom Lent Movement Building Multi-Faith Music mysticism New Wave Emergence origins Personal Poetry politics Prayer Preaching Privilege Racism Religious naturalism Resurrection salvation SKEPTIMERGENT Theology Trauma Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2017 November 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What specific sin does Paul say is against one's own body?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Gluttony Sexual immorality Drunkenness Self-harm