“Kindness is the key to everything; the key to reconciliation.” The Anishinaabe people have a saying: “I want to be a kind man.” That is what Indigenous teachings are all about, says Justice Murray Sinclair – “as are yours”, addressing the crowd at a CMU event who one can assume to be largely of Christian, specifically Mennonite, affiliation. “If you are a kind person, there is nothing you can’t do, nothing that can happen to you that you can’t overcome because others will be kind to you and help you.” You believe it when the Canadian senator says that. He has had challenges in life, as, sadly, do most of the Indigenous people of Canada due to the violence perpetuated on their people by majority culture. He has heard more than his fair share of heartbreaking stories of pain and grief and suffering, as a lawyer, a judge, and a TRC Commissioner. He has reason to be angry, and bitter – and tired. But the senator exuded a calm and gentle presence as he addressed a crowd at CMU ...
a smattering of brain droppings from a self-styled writer