Shared Stories

A reflection from the national pastor, Rev. Jean-Daniel O'Donncada.

Fifty years ago today a tragedy occurred on Lake Superior. The SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank and its 29 crew members all were killed. Some tragedies are amplified, rather than lessened, by how they were not entirely unusual. The Great Lakes have thousands of shipwrecks and have claimed thousands of lives.

The Edmund Fitzgerald was an American ship, with an American crew heading between two American ports, but the wreck occurred in Canadian water and is still famous today in great part because of the song composed by the great Canadian folk artist Gordon Lightfoot. It is a story that our countries share, as we share the Great Lakes themselves.

As many Christian denominations follow national borders, we in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Canada are outliers in having a both/and identity as our own national church but also being fully a part of the same church as our American neighbours.

We, religiously, in fact, share stories.

We share tragedies. We also share responses to those tragedies. The Edmund Fitzgerald was not the first Lake Superior shipwreck, but it remains, fifty years later, the last. Both countries have worked diligently and cooperatively, imperfectly but persistently, to learn lessons from the tragedy and create safer navigation. Together.

Neighbourly relations right now are strained as they may have ever been since the 19th century. But we share land, water, families, a church, tragedies and responses.

Tomorrow Canadians honour Remembrance Day as Americans will mark Veterans Day, more reminders of costly cooperation we have shared.

As we in Canada see our neighbours subject to increasing harassment because where they were born, or even just where they were by appearance or accent assumed to have been born; as we see profound vulnerability to our neighbours' access to food and healthcare, we are called to remember when Jesus told us to love our neighbours... Who are our neighbours?

Yes, our neighbours are global, too. We do not forget that when we look next door.

Gordon Lightfoot sang, "The legend lives on..." Indeed, but it lives on in great part because he wilfully chose to make it live on. I take this anniversary as a reminder, that we all are called to keep stories alive, to know with whom we share the stories, and to turn tragedies into healing action.