News

By Rev. Lauren Sanders, Spiritual Care Manager

As the Lenten Season ends somberly on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, we reflect on the commitment of Lent: self-reflection, interconnection, and change.

In the Christian calendar, Lent is a time to rest and for spiritual renewal: breathe deeply, ground ourselves, change spiritual practices that don’t work for us, and try different spiritual practices.

It’s a time to remember what makes us part of our human community.

At FIRST UNITED, we’re entering a season of change where reflections like this are necessary. Soon, we’ll move into our new building at 320 E. Hastings, where our programs and services will be easily accessible, and there will be residents living in rental units above.

When we open the doors of 320 E. Hastings to the community, we’ll have additional opportunities for connection with each other—you, me, other organizations, and the people we serve in the Downtown Eastside—and this is where change happens.

I am reminded of the words of Lilla Watson, an Australian Indigenous activist, at the 1985 United Nations Decade for Women Conference in Nairobi:

“If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

These powerful words task us with reflecting on our own motivations when it comes to charity and offering help. Her words direct us to turn away from harmful power imbalances that rely on actions, systems, and attitudes which deny the DTES community’s inherent worth, autonomy, and humanity.

We are called to reject ideas of superiority when it comes to the people we serve.
We’re called to respectful boundaries, to make sure we are listening and not “helping” without consent.
We are invited to come together to create a community of shared stories. To share in respect and dignity.
We belong to each other because “your liberation is bound up with mine” is the definition of solidarity.
My life is to be woven with yours, as our lives are connected. And our lives are connected with the people we serve in the Downtown Eastside.
When we believe in our interconnectedness, this is where change starts.
That’s how grassroots movements become resistance, resilience, and revolutions.
That’s how long-standing change is made. That is how justice works.

As we go from operating from seven different sites to two (our new building and our shelter), may we take this season of change, self-reflection, and interconnection to remember that solidarity, our collective liberation and the liberation of those living in the DTES, is woven into dignity, belonging, and justice.

In the name of Jesus Christ, who learned solidarity from the Syrophoenician Woman (pretty cool Biblical story that you can read here), who regularly practiced solidarity away from home, who frequently taught in his hometown. Amen.

Rev. Lauren Sanders (Prairie Band Potawatomi/mshkodéni bodewadminwen, Kickapoo Nation of Kansas/kiikaapoa, African American/Black)
Spiritual Care Manager, FIRST UNITED

P.S. We’re in the midst of our Easter fundraising campaign and need to raise $60,000 by April 30th. We’re planning to create new programs and expand current ones to serve more people in the DTES when we’re in our new building. Click here to chip in and help provide access to dignity, belonging and justice to more people in the neighbourhood.