Growing in Faith

There are certain Federal holidays that my generation grew up loving, and the 2nd Monday of October was one of them.

Was it because I thought Christopher Columbus was worth celebrating? Not particularly. To be honest, I knew very little about him--mostly the memory aid, "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue", the ships he sailed on, and that he wasn't even trying to find what we now call North America.

It was a day off of school, and that was the extent of my caring.

We often think of history as unchanging. If we know a fact, then it's always correct and it will always remain correct. And yet, ask any historian this question and they are likely to tell you that new information comes to light all the time.

The history of Christopher Columbus and the early North American settlers is far more complicated than the simplistic history told to us in grade school. Depending on your own age group, you may be more or less receptive to the shift in how that history is understood and taught. You also may be more or less receptive to the change in language around what we've always celebrated as Columbus Day.

In 2021, the Biden Administration officially designated the 2nd Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples' Day in addition to Columbus Day. This official designation invites the nation to honor the Indigenous people who have called this land home for millennia, and to recognize their resilience, strength, and determination to preserve their lands, languages, spirit, knowledge, and traditions through it all.*

The ELCA has done its own work over the decades, although many of the most significant proclamations, organizations, and language shifts have happened in the last 5-10 years.
In 2016, the Churchwide Assembly of the ELCA adopted, “The Repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery”. While short and simple, this document moved us forward in our work towards the “Truth and Healing Movement”, which former Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton announced in April 2023.

So many of these documents, teachings, and opportunities may feel difficult for us to wrap our heads around. When we’ve been taught one thing for so long, something “new” may feel like just another way to force us into political correctness, to make us feel ashamed for any European heritage we have, or just like we’re being left behind while people seem to reinvent the wheel. It’s hard to take in, and often makes us feel defensive.

As beloved children of God, Christ invites us to pause when we begin to feel that sense of frustration, defensiveness, or resistance. To ask ourselves, is this loving my neighbor as myself? To wonder, how is God making all things new, and how am I a part of his ongoing work of creation? To imagine, how would I feel if I were on the other side of things, or, this happened to my Jewish/Polish/Norwegian resistance/Japanese family members and it was awful.

Join us this Sunday, October 11, during our Growing in Faith session as we spend time learning more about our Indigenous siblings, why some of our language has changed (and why that's ok!), the current work of the ELCA, and why—just maybe—the 2nd Monday in October is a great time to celebrate our Indigenous siblings.

* Source: NPR, https://www.npr.org/2021/10/11/1044823626/indigenous-peoples-day-native-americans-columbus

Image Source: Bryce Olson, unsplash.com