Everyday James Vukelich publishes an ‘Ojibwe Word of the Day’ on his Facebook page. An enrollee of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe, Vukelich is a scholar, teacher, author, public speaker, and authority on Ojibwe culture and language. He is generous about sharing his community’s traditions. I’m a huge fan.
Every Thursday Vukelich offers a video – a more in-depth conversation about a particular Ojibwe word – its meaning, origins, and nuances. Many years ago, he posted a video on the word “leader.” Surprisingly, the word for “leader” in Ojibwe is the same as the word for “snowshoe.” What??!?!?
Vukelich explains the connection. In Ojibwe culture, a true leader who is one intimately and intricately connected with the people – part of the weave, part of the structure, but without whom everything would fray and come apart. A leader is an “entwining” of sorts – not above or better or more important than everyone else, just essential with a particular call to keeping the people together, unified, loving, and resolute.
In my own spiritual practice, I imagine Jesus in a similar way. God sent Jesus to be among us: to live, breathe, struggle, despair, teach, heal, learn, mourn, grow, pray, and show us the way. Jesus lived among the people: intricately and intimately connected, yet even two thousand years later without whom our lives – as individuals and as members of faith community − would fray and come apart. Jesus was all about relationship and taught through that weave of connection. However, we are each called, by way of our Baptismal Covenant, to show up in the world and in the church. We are called to emulate Jesus – to be a connector, a lover of souls, to engage our ministry from a stance of relationship and openness, from a desire for unity and faithfulness.
Devon with our outgoing Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry, at the last Executive Council meeting before General Convention, May 2024.
On June 26th, at General Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, the Episcopal Church will elect its next spiritual leader, the Presiding Bishop. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has served us mightily and well for the past 9 years. He has truly led the church like an Ojibwe snowshoe – part of the mix, intricately connected and relational – not believing himself to be better or more important than the rest of us, but with a servant’s heart – keeping us together, and using his voice and brilliance to reflect Christ’s professed love back to us, over and over and over and over and over again.
St. David’s: we are connected to an intricate weave of people and faith communities across the Episcopal Church. Did you know that the Episcopal Church does not just cover the United States, but also includes dioceses in 21 other countries including those in Central and South America and Taiwan? We are not an island unto ourselves, though it can feel like that. We are part of sinew that ties the proverbial snowshoe together. At this summer’s General Convention, we will be electing new spiritual leaders and making decisions for the whole church about our governance, worship, program, and financial resources. Time to embrace our part of the whole.
Grace and Peace,
The Rev. Devon Anderson
Interim Rector
Click HERE to find out more about James Vukelich or check out his Ojibwe Word of the Day.
For General Convention, the slate of Presiding Bishop candidates click HERE.
Click HERE for everything you need to know about the upcoming 81st General Convention including live stream for House of Bishops and House of Deputies.
Published June 13, 2024