This Eastertide, I give thanks to God for you

Christ is risen! Alleluia!

Some of the profound joys of my episcopal ministry are meeting, greeting (and eating!), listening and learning my way around the diocese and beyond. Now in my ninth year, I have been refreshed and energized by the blessing of taking a three-month sabbath leave last year.

Being on sabbath leave was about listening with the ears of my heart. Coming out of relationships built during our Sacred Circles in Canada and the Lambeth Conference, the first of three key chapters in my journey began in June 2024 with a pilgrimage of visiting and study to Aotearoa/New Zealand, where I was welcomed with such a generous hospitality that it changed my understanding of the word.

This important friendship and solidarity with the Māori peoples has been developed and strengthened over many years, with delegations of Māori coming to be honoured guests and speakers at our Sacred Circles, and numbers of Canadian Indigenous siblings traveling on pilgrimages of learning and sharing to Aotearoa/New Zealand.

In our road to self-determination in the Canadian Indigenous Anglican Church, our Māori siblings have encouraged us that though the shared settler-colonial/Indigenous way is hard, in the long run, it is more fruitful to walk together on this good road than to divide off and go separate ways, recognizing that collectively we form the Anglican Church of Canada.

In our connections together we begin to see the face of God. As we think about it, cross-cultural relationships are all around us. I traveled across the world to visit with, learn from and strengthen our bonds of friendship with our Māori siblings. It was a blessing beyond measure. It reminded me that listening is deeper than hearing. As part of the local reconciliation work that is taking place, there is a reclaiming of the Māori language as the spoken and written word. We know that language communicates culture, and that the worldview of a person is communicated through their words, phrases, dress, facial expressions and more, so when I was immersed in an environment where I didn’t speak the language, I found myself considering the art, craft and science of listening and learning.

This experience resonated for me. It was not the first time I found myself in an environment where I didn’t speak the language or know the culture. It called to mind my profound experience of engagement at the World Council of Churches gathering in Karlsruhe in 2022, where there were so many Christians gathered to worship, celebrate solidarity and work together for justice and peace, as our expression of faith in our triune God: Father, Son Jesus and Holy Spirit.

There was something important about not understanding the words yet being a participant in the sacred teaching: I knew when I was welcome, I could feel that I was included, and even without the obvious competencies, I was invited to be a part of the community. And that feeling makes the difference.

As the first witnesses in our Easter story, we hear about the women in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24: “Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and the other women, in returning from the empty tomb, told the eleven and all the rest, but they did not understand.” Over and over again, we hear about the blocked ears of the disciples and the crowds; how Jesus taught them, told them what to expect, healed them and worked miracles in front of their very eyes, yet they did not understand. Though it was surely a source of frustration, it was not an impediment to relationship. Jesus did not give up on them, even though they did not always believe or understand. They were included anyway, like we are, in the priesthood of all believers. To quote John Lewis, “If not us, then who?”

In our human experience, there is a long tradition of having the truth in plain sight and not being able to see it… yet we continue to play a role in the unfolding of the divine reality as agents in God’s creative process.

As I became more skilled at listening in ways that aligned with my other senses – with my eyes, the ears of my heart, my understanding – I came to a different place of peace: watching the learning take place before my eyes, knowing that not all of it was for me or about me, and observing the constraints of listening in a familiar language, which often leads me to make assumptions that limit possibility. That was liberating, actually.

This Eastertide and always, I am giving thanks to God for you, for your faithful witness, for your strength, courage and wisdom as we work together, building relationships of hope, trust and unity. We are in changing and challenging times, in our world and in our Church. We are the hands of the risen Christ: let us always look for hope, stepping into our call to love like Jesus, to be generous, creative and kind.

Peace and love!