(e)mergent Voyageurs

This past weekend, my wife & I had some time to relax, so decided to rent a movie. As Kim is the athlete in the marraige, we choose sports films from time to time. This time Kim decided on “The Rocket”. In this excellent historical true story, the life and career of legendary Québécois hockey player Maurice “The Rocket” Richard. Those who know of The Rocket’s career will know that he was one of the most masterful players to ever play the game, but also the source of great controversy.

Richard played in an area where French Canadians were often treated as second rate citizens by other Canadians (and often as poorly by American teams and fans). Matching his talent on the ice with pointed critique of the inequity within the National Hockey League against French Canadians, reflecting the deeper prejudice that permeated the larger culture. This injustice played itself out during game play, which Richard reacted to forcefully. While his violence was perhaps excessive, if understandable, in 1955 it earned him a suspension for the remain season and the playoffs. The result was a massive riot by fans which remains infamous to this day.

Watching this film stirred something in me, perhaps even opening a deep and long forgotten wound. As many of you know, my family on my mothers side is French Canadian. The heritage of the Aprin/Trudeau family (yes, Pierre was a relative) are rich, rooted in this nation since before the Battle on the Plains of Abraham. And yet, like many of my cousins, the French heritage has been lost to me. I do not speak French (though I understand a fair bit) and have lost much of the cultural characteristics that were once a part of our families life. Several years ago I added “Arpin” to my last name as an attempt to honour that part of my history, but I have found it difficult to do more to recapture it.

Perhaps this is why the issue of my previous two posts (Redemptive Taxonomy & Why I Am…) were so personal for me. I do not want to add dividing labels or brands, nor do I want split the church into opposing camps. However, I know how misguded we can get at times, even with the best intentions, in trying to forge unity through uniformity. People keep saying this like “Can’t we just be followers of Christ?” or “We should find our identity in Christ”. Of course I agree with this, but these comments tend to be more sentimental than substantial, doing nothing to work through the real issues of our diversity.

I don’t want to beat a dead horse with this issue. However, I wanted to shed some light as to one of the reasons why this has been so important to me. I haven’t wanted to put things in boxes. I haven’t wanted to contribute to division or parochialism. I haven’t been attempting distance myself from one group/theology or another. Rather, my desire has been to try to contribute to an environment that allows for the diversity that is so essential to our identities within Christ and to our unity as His Body.

Ok, I promise to move on and mix up the topics this week. Au revoir!

Emerging Church Missional Identity Culture