Today the United States celebrates Columbus Day. Exactly who and what is being celebrated?
(From banderasnews.com)
To celebrate Columbus is to celebrate a legacy of genocide, slavery, rape and plunder. It commemorates the violent and bloody accumulation of capital for the ruling classes of Europe and, later, the U.S.
Columbus’ voyage was financed by the Spanish monarchy. Spain was then a newly unified nation-state in competition with other European powers to expand its domain and amass great wealth. The purpose of his expedition was to establish an alternative trade route to the East and return with riches. Gold and silver were of particular interest to Columbus.
When he landed in the islands now known as the Bahamas, Columbus encountered the Arawak Indians, whose kindness and generosity he noted in his journal and letters. Columbus quickly took a group of Arawaks captive, hoping they could lead him to gold. He then sailed to Hispaniola-Haiti and the Dominican Republic-where he enslaved even more Indians.
After returning to Spain and reporting on the incredible wealth in the islands of the “New World,” the monarchs gave Columbus 17 ships and more than 1,200 men to plunder the Caribbean. His new expedition went from island to island gathering slaves and gold with unprecedented brutality.
Opening the continent to slavery
Columbus was the first European slave trader in the Americas. He sent more slaves across the Atlantic Ocean than any individual of his time-about 5,000.
He and his men captured and enslaved the Arawak people almost as soon as they landed. Some were sent to Spain and others served Columbus on the islands. In 1496, Columbus jubilantly wrote Spain’s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella about the possibilities for exploitation in the West Indies: “In the name of the Holy Trinity, we can send from here all the slaves and brazil wood which could be sold.”
In Hispaniola, Columbus and the Spanish set up a system that made every Indian over the age of 14 responsible for gathering a certain amount of gold each month. They received copper tokens to hang around their necks if they succeeded. If an Indian was caught without a token, the Spanish cut off their hands and let them bleed to death.
Such murder and torture occurred frequently because the Spanish wildly overestimated how much gold existed on the island. Gathering enough gold to satisfy the Spanish conquerors was an impossible task.
When it became clear there was no more gold to take, the Spanish started a form of plantation slavery, known as the ecomienda system. This system thrived by working Indian slaves to death on large, privately owned estates. Indian slave labor was later used in gold and silver mines.
Sexual slavery was also widespread among the Spanish settlers. In 1500, Columbus wrote: “A hundred castellanoes are as easily obtained for a woman as for a farm, and it is very general and there are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten are now in demand.”
Bartolomé de Las Casas, a Spanish priest sympathetic to the plight of Indians, described the terrible violence against them: “[the Spanish] rode the backs of the Indians as if they were in a hurry,” and they “thought nothing of knifing Indians by tens and twenties and of cutting slices off them to test the sharpness of their blades.”
When the Arawaks tried to escape enslavement, they were hunted and killed. The Spanish sent hunting dogs to rip them apart. When the Arawaks tried to organize armed uprisings, they were crushed by the settlers’ advanced weaponry. Arawaks taken prisoner in battle were hanged or burned alive. Many turned to suicide out of misery and desperation.
The diseases brought by the colonizers rapidly felled the Indians. Through out the Americas, millions died from smallpox, influenza, viral hepatitis and other illnesses. European rodents and livestock wreaked havoc on the ecosystem of the Americas, which sustained the native population.
A brutal legacy
Columbus and his followers massacred an entire people. Some estimate that the pre-Columbian population on the island of Hispaniola was as high as 8 million. By 1516, the Indian population dropped to 12,000. Only 200 remained by 1542. Not one Arawak Indian was left alive on the island by 1555.
The atrocities committed by Columbus and his men were by no means isolated occurrences. Columbus set the model for other Europeans who sought to dominate the “New World.” The same method of terrifying, enslaving and slaughtering Indians was employed by all explorers portrayed as heroes in U.S. history books.
Ken Norian, TSSF
Minister General Report – 2012
My home Province, The Province of the Americas, is preparing for its annual Chapter. It occurs to me that those who hold offices in provinces around the world write annual reports summarizing the past year and articulating their vision for the next year when they are continuing in that office. I also realized that there has not been a precedent or regular opportunity for the Minister General to do the same. I believe that it would be a constructive now, and useful going forward for this to become a norm for the Minister General.
As it was just a little over a year ago that I was elected, this is as good a time as any to collect my thoughts about the past year and to reflect on the year ahead.
Transitions in life are always interesting and often challenging. Regardless of one’s qualifications, prior experience and visions, taking on a new role can be a humbling experience. My predecessors were Brian Hamilton, Alden Whitney, Keith Slater and Dorothy Brooker. How do I live into a role that people such as these have occupied? Somehow, though, God gives us grace to do things we didn’t think we could do. I remember how overwhelming it was when my first son Paul was born. I couldn’t imagine loving and taking care of another one. Luke came along and, somehow, I was able to. Kensley came unexpectedly (via adoption – a long story) and I had three boys in diapers within 19 months of each other. What I couldn’t even think about doing less than two years prior I’ve been able to accomplish well (in all humility!). And soon thereafter two more kids, all five with a few years of each other.
One of the things I’ve realized over this past year is the great things that we do as a global community and as individuals supported by that community. There are some things that we do in the name of TSSF. There are SO many things that we do as individuals serving God’s people either in specific ministries or in the witness of our lives in secular pursuits that are inspired and/or supported by our sisters and brothers in the Third Order, Society of Saint Francis.
When we commit ourselves to support each other “in community and prayer” we are enabled as individuals who, though living a dispersed religious life are bound together by a common rule and spirituality. In meetings, phone calls, emails, video conversations and letters with other Tertiaries it is so clear that through our formation and ongoing growth as Tertiaries we are bound together in a special and wonderful way. My kids use a vernacular expression of “peeps” to express a feeling of those who you connect with at a very fundamental level. When I’m with Tertiaries there is an immediate connectedness that has a foundation in a core spirituality that transcends politics, denominations or theology.
As I pray the Daily Office I reflect on the diversity of experiences that exist within TSSF. There are those living relatively comfortably in the first world… and brothers and sisters living in Papua New Guinea, The Solomon Islands, Guyana, and struggling countries and areas in Africa. Around the world there are those who, regardless of their socio-economic status that have struggles and suffering. When we pray our Daily Obedience we remember and lift all of our sisters and brothers up in prayer – as a GLOBAL community!
A Minister General as few prescribed responsibilities:
• Functional head of the order throughout the world
• Ensure that the Constitution is observed
• Assist in coordinating interprovincial life of the order
• Convene regular meetings of the Minsters Provincial
• Ensure that Interprovincial Chapters are called
Honestly, a Minister Provincial of one of our Provinces has a heavier day to day workload. My goal is to continue to encourage and facilitate interprovincial communication and inspire all members of TSSF to “act locally, think globally”.
This past year I have been able to spend time in prayer and fellowship with those from our sisters and brothers in the Roman Catholic Secular Franciscan Order. While I have a history with Franciscans from the Order of Ecumenical Franciscans I have not been able to meet with them as a group. I have been able to be in regular communication via phone and electronic communication.
I was able to get my arms around the wonderful work being done by Franciscan Aid (supported by Tertiaries) around the world, the operations of the Central Fund that supports interprovincial life and to participate in the European Chapter in Ely, UK. I was able to participate in a Chapter of the European Province and during the same trip was fortunate to share in local communities of Tertiaries in the UK.
In the past year there have been changes in leadership in three of our five provinces. Nolan Tobias from the African Province and John Hebenton from the Province of Aotearoa/New Zealand and Polynesia with Melanisia were Ministers Provincial at IPTOC (Inter Provincial Third Order Council) in August of 2011. Colin Fidock from the Province of Australia, Paua New Guinea and East Asia; Averil Swanton from the European Province; and John Brockmann from the Province of the Americas are newly installed Ministers Provincial since a little over a year ago.
I would like to thank Joanna Coney and Ted Witham who served as Minsters Provincial of the European Province and the Province of Australia,
Keep us in your prayers as we continue to discern the ongoing vision for the Third Order at the next Minster’s Provincial meeting in Cape Town South Africa in August 2013. This will be the first inter provincial meeting in the African Province and I am very excited about the opportunity to meet with members of our community there.
I wish that I could remember all Tertiaries by name in my daily intercessions. I do pray for Chapter members and all of you in our wonderfully diverse community who share so much in common.
Peace, love and all good……………….. Ken
TSSF Northeast Regional Convocation
Ken Norian, TSSF Sunday sermon 8/11/2012
Loving God, thank you for minds to think, mouths to speak, ears to hear, and hearts to understand…..
Fear is something that everyone experiences in their life. It is a natural reaction to a perceived threat that causes animal of all sorts to move quickly away from the threat, and sometimes hide. It is a basic survival mechanism that can be essential to avoiding pain or the threat of danger. In additional to getting away from the threat of danger or hiding, fear can sometimes cause animals (including us) to confront the source of fear. Sometimes, unfortunately, fear can also cause paralysis. While some animals may freeze when confronted to mask themselves from a predator, most of the times doing nothing doesn’t help one get away from the source of fear.
It gets a little more complicated with human beings though. While all healthy animals (including human beings) have an instinctual response to danger, feelings of fear in humans are confused with and intertwined with anxiety. From a clinical perspective, fear is related to specific behaviors of escape and/or avoidance where anxiety is related to a situation which is seen as being uncontrollable or unavoidable. I guess you could say that fear is more of a “clear and present danger” situation while anxiety is a response to dealing with upcoming negative events. Fear is usually short lived, oriented to getting away from a specific threat while anxiety is longer acting and focused on the future. Anxiety can give feelings of apprehension or dread. Some of you probably know the symptoms – a fast beating heart, tension, fatigue, chest pain, shortness of breath, headaches, stomach aches, sweating, trembling, nightmares, etc.
Well, this is supposed to be a sermon, not a mini psychology lesson…. The Bible, not burdened by 21st century definitions or psychology doesn’t always make as clear a distinction between the two and what it has to has say about one often applies to the other.
Anxiety, worry and tension are some of the most destructive forces we can face. They sap our strength and slowly undermine our faith, keeping us from maturing in the Lord. In Luke 8:14, the seed that fell among thorns, tells us not to be “thorn patch” people – overcome by worries and the lure of materialism. Francis resonated to this so much.
Psalm 34 which we heard earlier has been one of my favorite Psalms for a very long time. I have a Bible I got in my first year of college just under 40 years ago, and there are several passages I highlighted from this Psalm when I had hair down to my shoulders and couldn’t yet grow a beard. Let’s set the stage a bit… Saul was the King of Israel who wanted to kill David. David ran away and Saul followed him. David went to the Philistine city of Gath whose King was Abimelech. He wasn’t very friendly to David. Instead of trusting in God, David became afraid and concocted a plan of his own – to make Abimelch think he was crazy. In those days, it was thought to be wrong to kill crazy people so instead of killing David he sent him away. David found himself a cave a few miles away. Several hundred people went to the camp David made, running away from a difficult life in Judah. They were pretty much what we would call refugees today. This story is found in 1 Samuel chapters 21 and 22.
Nearly every verse of Psalm 34 is rich and meaningful, but there are three verses that I highlighted in that old Bible:
• 4: I prayed to the Lord and he answered me, he freed me from all my fears.
• 6: In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; he saved me from all my enemies.
• 18: The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.
God promises to set us free from our fears (4,6) guard and defend us (7), show us goodness (8), supply our needs (9), listen when we call to him (15), and redeem us (22). We have to do our part though. We have to trust him (4,10), cry out to him (6,17), take refuge in him (8), fear him (9), serve him (22). Most of us wish that we could escape trouble…. Pain, grief, loss, sorrow, failure and so on. God promises to be our source of power, courage and wisdom, helping us through our problems.
In today’s reading from 1 Kings, Elijah provides another example of someone we can identify with. Just when God needed him most, this prophet of God became a great failure and ran away from his post is a terribly depressed condition. He had shown great courage before Ahab in the king’s palace and on Mount Carmel. He saw examples of God’s providence over and over. But He became afraid and discouraged when faced with the threat of Jezubel and the fact that there would not be a quick revival in the land. How could Elijah, this man of God, run away into the wilderness and ask God to take his life? He had his own expectations, lost his focus and relied on his own strategies. But, of course, God wasn’t done with Elijah, and failure doesn’t mean defeat – just as it doesn’t mean an end to our challenges and struggles.
Therein lies the rub. We’re likely to all have struggles and challenges. I’ve got what the vast majority of people on the planet would consider to be a very blessed life. I know, intellectually, that there are people right this minute who are suffering orders of magnitude than I ever have…. my divorce, brush with the champagne of cancers (prostate), financial struggles (and, yes, I have them worse than can imagine with five kids and child support for many years), addiction and incarceration in the family, loss of jobs over the years… these pale in comparison to the kind of suffering that others experience. Most of them are “first world problems”. I sliced my finger open a while ago and it really affected by daily routine for a while – I was cutting limes for a gin and tonic. That’s a first world problem. Having potable water to drink…. That’s not a first world problem. But, still, rationalizing like that really doesn’t do much to make me, or probably you feel any better.
When we are struck with fear and/or anxiety what we want is comfort and protection. The good news is that we can have both. Psalm 46:1 speaks to this: “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.” No matter what might happen to us, we need not fear. Even in the face of utter destruction, the psalmist expresses a quiet confidence in God’s ability to save. When things seem impossible, remember Luke 18:27, “the things which are impossible for people are possible with God”. I have to keep reminding myself of this often. Norman Vincent Peale wrote, “There is only one force more powerful than fear – and that is faith… Love overcomes fear. By love is meant trust, confidence and complete dependence upon God.
Speaking of Norman Vincent Peale, along with that old Bible I spoke about earlier, I also have this copy of “Thought Conditioners” that I got around the same time. If you search for Thought Conditioners + Norman Peale it’s easy to find on line. In the intro he writes, “the world in which you live is not determined so much by outward circumstances nearly so much as by the thoughts which habitually occupy your mind”.
Elijah and David learned this. Francis learned it too when he said – “Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt.”
I suppose my favorite verse of scripture is (Phil 4:4-7, multiple translations) “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice. Don’t worry about ANYTHING, instead, pray about EVERYTHING. Tell God what you need and thank him for what he’s done. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and minds safe as you live in Christ Jesus.”
As Franciscans, we’re fond of saying “peace and all good”. Close, but the actual words of Francis was, “may the Lord give you peace”. From The Assisi Compilation, “ Likewise the Lord also revealed to him the greeting that the brothers should use, as he had written in his Testament: “The Lord revealed a greeting to me that we should say, ‘May the Lord give you peace’”.
See this carefree guy, supposedly “successful” guy talking to you now? I’m a good actor, but I worry a lot – more than I should. I wrote a little prayer that has several stubs of scripture in it that I pray every day:
God of love, my place of safety when I am in distress. You know my needs, fears, worries and anxieties. Forgive me for the times I’ve failed to love and serve you and others as I should, and for the role I’ve played in bringing trouble on myself. But you, O Lord, have mercy on me. Give me wisdom to know what I can and should do, and give me the grace and strength to do it. Be my fortress and my refuge; deliver me from all my fears. Grant me hope and confidence that you will be with me forever. Help me not to worry about the future but joyfully trust in you completely. Fill me with perfect peace that transcends understanding”.
Amen.