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Dear Passing the Peace Readers, 

For this week’s newsletter I’m happy to share with you a reflection I wrote as part of The United Church’s 40 Days of Anti-Racism 2023 campaign. 

It’s been a couple of years since I moved away from Toronto, the city known as a hub of diversity. When I first moved to Toronto it was healing and enlightening for me to be able to experience so many cultures, something I had lacked growing up in White suburbia, and to realize the depth of diversity. It’s not just about the colour of people’s skin but also family histories, language, food, music, art, dance, stories, religion, the lands they know as home, ways of communicating and relationship building, and so much more. Sometimes I sought out experiences that would help me appreciate and understand someone’s culture better, but many times I was blessed with learning simply because of an opportunity that landed right in front of me.

Not too long ago, I decided to move away from Toronto when I had an opportunity to become a minister at a rural congregation. These days I live in a small village with a handful of stop signs. The local church is one of the most prominent institutions and buildings. It’s not a place with regular protests and demonstrations. We do not have a Showing Up for Racial Justice chapter (yet!) or any community groups for Indigenous or racialized peoples that I’m aware of, so I have been forced to imagine new ways that I can remain committed to the ongoing work of racial justice. It was important for me to recognize that rural communities are both impacted by racism and have the capacity to work for racial justice. Different approaches may be needed to organize, but the conversation remains just as topical and important.

In my own life, I am learning to slow down and find healing by reconnecting to the land I live on. One of the lessons I am unlearning is the way White supremacy and settler colonialism taught me that I am separate from the land. I realized that if the waters where I lived were trying to tell me that they were sick, I wouldn’t know how to listen. I’m aware that I have never lived anywhere long enough in my adult life to be able to appreciate the rhythms of the seasons properly—to recognize the return of migrating birds or appreciate fruit trees maturing.

So now, I garden. I learn to listen to creation in ways that are guided by respect instead of extraction. I let my time with the plants help me uproot the ideas White supremacy thrives on, like perfectionism, anthropocentric individualism, and a constant sense of urgency, as I see the garden reveal its magic through patient and imperfect acts of caretaking. I let go of the need to “master” my knowledge of nature and give thanks for the opportunity to be a humble beginner that is seeking relationships that are based in reciprocity. These lessons being taught to me by the land help me heal and grow and impact how I’m able to engage in anti-racism work.

I find God in the soil, a perfect example of the beautiful messiness of resurrection, a Holy Composter making all things new and reminding me that the new world God calls us to create is still possible. Every time I tend to the garden, I see that God is still right here working alongside us if we’re willing to get our hands a little dirty.

You can read more, including a prayer and reflection questions by clicking here. 

Friends, may the peace of Christ be with you,

 

Yours in Christ, 

Rev Michiko