Within the phrase “Truth and Reconciliation” I sense an opportunity, invitation, and encouragement to reflect. This is a golden opportunity to examine, assess, and reconcile the stories I learned in my youth. What do the beliefs I was raised with reveal in me? My prayer is to fearlessly look within to separate the chaff from the wheat to iilluminate the grains of truth. As the saying goes, if I don't transform it, I will transfer it. To serve in the most openhearted and effective way possible I must begin by cleaning my house.
My friend Lloyd Murray told a story of a flowering cherry tree in his backyard. He said every year that dammed tree dropped all its petals in the spring and leaves in the fall making a huge mess for him to clean. He resented and cursed that tree and regularly thought he would destroy it. Shortly after he had a spiritual awakening, he noticed the astounding beauty and fragrance of the spring blossoms and never cursed that tree again. The only change he noted was his perspective. The flowering cherry, even in the face of resentment and cursing unrelentingly shared its beauty with him. In the end love overcame but it was up Lloyd to do the work of allowing the scales to drop from his eyes.
Seeking the deepest truth of who I am in this world is singularly vital in all my relations. This spiritual engagement opens my heart to reunification with my indigeneity. In wakening, it becomes possible to successfully reconcile all my relations. Wagamese (2016) reminds me to “Choose what your heart draws you to, not what your mind decides”. It is in this spirit of transformational awakening I submit this Metissage.
~Stay tuned in the following months for stories that will flow from this metissage.~