Friday morning I sat among hundreds of people to celebrate the commencement of 41 brothers and sisters in Christ who are going out into the ministry. The speaker was perhaps the best commencement speaker I've ever heard, and he was arguably the best speaker I've heard, period. He spoke about the Christian pilgrimage in a way that inspired all of us to march forward in the name of the Lord. His speech was full of jewels of wisdom and understanding.
At one point in the speech, the speaker gave an illustration that was intended to show the manner in which Christian pilgrims should follow God's adventure. The illustration, however, did something very funny to me. In the middle of all the good words, I felt offended. The speaker began by saying, "If it were up to my wife, the United States would never have been settled west of Boston." After a brief chortle, he moved on to explain the pioneer spirit that led the early settlers west to take land. He called it "free" land. The moment he said, "free land," all I could think of was my Native American grandmother and those of our relatives who are in no-man's land somewhere on a reservation because white people took the "free" land. My emotions flooded with disappointment that such a learned, eloquent man would join generations of ignorant people who have overlooked my native ancestors for years. "But you're white!" you say. Yes, I am. However, being white with native ancestors, I've heard both sides of the story. Yes, the pioneers were amazing. Yes, they fought vigilently to settle mostly untamed land. Yes, they are excellent examples of people who face adversity to get what they want. Far be it from us, however, to overlook the fact that they are also fine examples of robbers, murderers, connivers, torturers, rapists (of people and the land), and manipulaters who put my "uncivilized" ancestors into organized land. The only reason my native relatives didn't have land is because they didn't have flags to stick in the dirt like the white people.
For what it's worth, I spoke about my hurt feelings to a friend earlier today and was told, "What's your problem? The Indians didn't have anything. It was free land." If you're white and you think this, you're wrong. Perhaps some of the land was free, but as a rule, the natives shared and honored the land. Imagine if another, more "civilized" culture came here after us. They might look at us and move us around as "uncivilized" people. When things happen to us from foreign invaders, we call that terrorism. Yet, when we do it to others, we call it pioneering. Now that this is somewhat out of my system, I expect at least half a dozen white people to tell me how off-base I am. I welcome your comments and reserve the right not to reply, simply because you know what I'll say.
2 comments:
If you were at Parkway, We would say "You took the bait!" The bait is being offended--we did the bait of satan for our worship SS class. I can't really comment because I was not there, but I get the gist of what you are saying. All I know is, Adam didn't like the grad speakers, but he also is ADD when it comes to those things. (but I love him anyway and he can't help it!) It is interesting how preachers sometimes say off the cuff things or unplanned things that can get them into trouble.
One thing I really enjoy about my friendship with you, Heather, is that you'll be honest with me. You're right - I took the bait. As I already said, that speaker was AMAZING! I was being spiritually blessed, but that one comment sat under my skin. Good call, and thanks for speaking truth here. Regardless of whether our history was right, I don't need to let offense get the better of me. The Durkees rock.
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