For those who are curious, here is the prayer I prayed on Sunday:

Indegenous Peoples Day Prayer

And today, on this National Indigenous Peoples Day, we give thanks for the First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples of our community and country. We acknowledge the Anishinabe, Cree, Oji-cree, Dakota, Dene and Metis peoples as the original stewards of this land. We acknowledge that we are on Treaty one territory. This treaty allowed settler people to live here and was signed in your name, God. We acknowledge this because we want to honour you, Jesus.

We say today that Indigenous Lives matter – and that all lives do not matter until all lives matter. Lord, we hold up to you the injustices that have been done and continue to be done against our Indigenous brothers and sisters. We look at the disproportionate representation of access to education, health care, clean water and opportunity in our province. We see the misrepresentation in the criminal justice system and Child and Family Welfare agencies. We see the missing and murdered girls and women. We see the child taken and the parent left behind. We see the generational trauma. God would you heal us and heal our society and heal our land? Would you free us from racism in our own hearts and in our institutions that shape us? May we be shaped by you, and by the values of your Kingdom. Let us deeply hear the voices that for too long have not been heard and may we find your Spirit’s whispers amidst the cries of the wounded, the hurting, the traumatized. 

Creator, may our worship and prayers rise like smoke to mingle with your heart and may you breathe on us and fill us with your Spirit. May you walk with us as we navigate these peculiar and perilous times in which you are shaking the heavens and the earth. Guide us as we seek to be reconcilers. Give us eyes to see your hand moving amidst many who claim to be your agents, and ears to hear the whisper of your voice amidst the shouting throngs who claim to speak for you. We ask for discernment, patience and fortitude to walk in the way you have for us.

Photo by Tim Foster on Unsplash