Lieutenant-Governor speaks of
Jesus' Great Commandment
By Fran Bedell
On May 3, His Honor, Graydon Nicholas, Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick, was the guest speaker at St. John Anglican and St. Paul United Church in Edmundston. (The Parish of Edmundston is part of the Anglican Shared Ministry in North West New Brunswick.) 
Joanna Bernard, Chief of the Madawaska First Nations, and the band’s official drummers were also present. I have long been interested in native spirituality, and with the National Aboriginal Day of Prayer being observed on June 21, this seemed to be a good time.
Our service began with a sweet-grass ceremony, a purifying and cleansing to prepare us for worship. Then the lead drummer, Michael, drummed four very loud beats-to wake up the sleeping spirits.
The focus of the service was a litany of the Four Sacred Directions, East, South, West and North. These must be presented in the proper 
sequence, as they represent the stages of the day as well as the stages of our lives. After each direction, the drummers drummed and chanted to the spirits of that direction.
Spirit of the East-bring the new dawn in me.
Spirit of the South, bring me healing and laughter.
Spirit of the West, bring me cleansing and insight.
Spirit of the North, bring me wisdom and purity.
One thing that soon became obvious was that when the drums started, we paid attention. The drums seemed to connect us to our heartbeat, to our natural rhythms. The beat brought us down to earth, brought us out of our heads and into our feelings. It connected us to Mother Earth, bringing a spiritual awareness of God’s Creation.
The spirituality of the drums forced us to look deep within ourselves, to see how we are living this life we have been given; it is music for the soul. It speaks to us, gently challenging us to find our potential, and is fed on prayer and meditation. It is like a longing to gain a deeper connection, pushing energy waves into our bodies, bringing us balance, rhythm and energy.
The Madawaska Chief introduced the lieutenant governor, saying he was her mentor and her cousin. She credits him with promoting education among all First Nations as well as working within the justice system for equal rights.
Lt.-Gov. Nicholas began his address with an eagle’s feather in his hand. He connected that feather to the eagle feather used in the sweet grass ceremony. He then quoted from Exodus 19:4-5, “how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself” — explaining the place of the eagle in native spirituality.
He challenged us to read a book, called A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies. He went on to talk about the injustices, both open and hidden, to the First Nations by conquerors and missionaries. The injustice of the residential schools almost eradicated a culture, girls were forced to cut off their braids, their native language was forbidden and the children were separated from their rituals and heritage. That is in the past, now the work of overcoming oppression continues.
He then spoke of Jesus’ Great Commandment (Matthew 22: 38-39). He emphasized “And a second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Who is our neighbor? Is it only people like us or is it all people? How do we show that love? Is it through prejudice, racism, and exclusion, or by accepting, affirming and building community? He reminded us that there is only one God and though there are different ways of worship, all are directed to the one God.
The sign of healing is when we can look at each other and see not differences, but similarities, when we can accept all people as God’s children, and when equality will be for all, not just some.
Although he spoke for close to 30 minutes, it seemed like a few seconds. His humility and spirituality was very evident.
Our closing prayers were a tribute to the Aboriginal People. The lieutenant-governor brought copies of the Lord’s Prayer in Maliseet, which he prayed.
A pot-luck meal was enjoyed after the service, with His Honor offering grace in his native language.In addition to our faith community, we had guests from our ecumenical friends and members of the Madawaska First Nation.
It was a truly special day, and even though the service lasted almost two hours, no one noticed. We could feel God, the Great Spirit, in that church and believed he was blessing our attempts to come together as one.
The Rev. Deacon Fran Bedell is a member of the Northwestern New Brunswick Shared Ministry Team and leads services in the Parish of Madawaska.