The Bond of Love
Text: Revelation 22:1-7
Woodpeckers made a nest in one of the birch trees in our backyard. At first, my family and I didn’t know what was happening inside of the tree – why those woodpeckers were flying in and flying out constanly. Ha Na noticed the edgy sound the woodpeckers made every time we were too cloe to the tree, as if we were invading their space. The cry of the baby woodpeckers made us aware of the existance of their home. Over the last two or three weeks, we have observed woodpeckers’ incredible parenting. They work very hard! Taking turns, the couple look after their babies brooding and feeding them. They don’t even look tired! They are born to do this job! Day by day, I noticed how the voice of the young grew strong and confident. Babies – animals and humans alike - can only cry when there is somone who will listen and tend to them. This is their home, where there is everything they need to survive – food, protection, saftey, love, and care provided by their parents.
Home is sacred. Every home deserves respect and saftey. I noticed how a parent woodpecker was patiently waiting outside until no other creatures were around the tree. To respect their privacy, I keep my distacne from their home. Every creature has the right to nurture and to be nurtured. Breaking this circle of love is a sin.
The discovery of the bodies at Kamloops Residential School broke so many people’s hearts across the country. I was so deeply saddened by the news that I could feel the heaviness of the pain in my body. Those undocumented children, buried in the unmarked ground were beloved children to their parents, precious members to their communities, and ancestors to their future generations.
Rev. Murray Pruden, National Executive Minister of Indigenous Ministries & Justice expressed this interconnectedness in the prayer he shared: “the news we have heard is of our relations, our families, the children who have been physically taken away from us and who have now been found. And with this news, we grieve for their memory, for their struggle, for their spirit.”
The impact of the residential schools is alive today as intergeneraional trauma. I was overhearing my son Jah-bi’s online class. The teacher and the grade 4 students were engaging in a very serious conversation about residential schools in the wake of the discovery of the bodies. Some of the kids expressed sadness, while some others were confused as to why those students who were supposed to learn at school had to die. The lively class became silent after one student said, “my great grandfather went to a residential school, but he never talked about it.”
What became clear to me was that the government and the churches broke the bond of love between parents and children with the residential school system. What was done to the sacred human relationship and why? Imagine the emptiness in those families and communities whose children were forcibly taken away. There were no kids to love, to nurture, and to pass on important life lessons. Imagine the danger and isolation the kids had to suffer. Being cut off from their families, their culture, their language, even their siblings at the same school, there was no one to trust, no one to cry to, and no one to ask for help. How can we heal such brokenness? How can we mend the sacred cirlce of love and trust?
I was desperately looking for an answer, and I came across an image of tree, the tree of life in Revelation 22. In this vision, John saw the bountiful tree planted on either side of the river. The tree produces its fruit each month, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of nations. It’s worth noting the Bible begins and ends with talking about a tree. I believe nature has so much to teach us especially when we are in trouble.
In Genesis 2, two trees are mentioned: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of lie. How each tree is used in a story tells us what kind of choice we have as human beings. The infamous tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil itself is not inherently good or evil. It’s the motivation behind consuming the tree that is problematic: to become like God. We human beings have cuased a lot of trobles by playing God. The residential school system was created by European settelers who believed they knew what’s best for Indigenous peoples. Such an attitude is still a huge barrier to building healthy and trusted relationships between Indigenous people and settler Canadians.
The tree of life, on the other hand, is not used to benefit any particular person or a group of people. I couldn’t find any reference in the Bible how the tree was consumed. I am beginning to wonder if the tree of life is meant to be a reminder of who we are and how we shall live. All of us are like leaves of the tree. We live by simply being connected to the different branches, the trunk, and the roots. We are to receive all the nutrients from the ground, as well as from the sky and the sun. Leaves are often the first indicator to health of the tree. Our well-being, what’s going on in our body, mind and heart also speaks about the state of our community, nation, and the globe.
We are all earthlings, after all. Our shared identity as earthlings sets the tone of work we do. None of us knows what’s best for ourselves let alone for others. We simply share the same source and the same destiny. We can only thrive as a whole when we honour each sacred bond of love.