Pastor’s Corner – July 2, 2023

This weekend is the fourth of July weekend. If it wasn’t so hot and humid it would be nice to grill some hotdogs and burgers after worship to celebrate our holiday. However, while any nation/state would celebrate their independence from colonial rule or founding of their nation, our story is fraught with ambivalence since the land in which we live was stolen from the natives. On this note, we need to have a better historic understanding of Native American genocide (Yes, Native Americans Were the Victims of Genocide – Truthout) and in Texas Plano where once Anadarko natives thrived are no longer in existence. 

It’s like me imagining where once Korea was annexed and colonized by Japan, making the use of Korean language illegal and renaming all Koreans with Japanese names and assimilating them into Japan as second-class citizens. If it wasn’t for Korean independence in August 15, 1945 after Japan’s defeat in the PMIGTacific war, cultural genocide of Korea would be permanent. Decades later, our family immigrated to the US, living on a land that experienced historic trauma of permeant genocide of natives, and at the same time as immigrants befitting from the opportunities afforded to us. So, yes there is that uneasiness growing up in the US with a growing historic awareness and a faith that drives me to make historic wrongs right by looking into reparation of natives. We can learn from New Zealand; how they are dealing with their colonial past (New Zealand leads the way on reparations for indigenous people – JusticeInfo.net)  and working toward reconciliation and community building. 

I want to invite you this coming Sunday Worship, to look more critically at our historic past in the light of the scriptures that teach us that our ultimate loyalty is not to a nation or state but to God’s Kingdom as followers of Jesus. Yes, we do believe in the separation of church and state!

Pastor Dae