On January 30th, PMC Pastor Tim Reardon introduced his friend and previous pastor Joshua Grace.

Joshua and friends Dimitri and Rufo painted and presented a mural to PMC, representing the land that we at PMC meet on: the unceded territory of the Hahamong’na (Xaxaamonga) tribe of the Tongva people who have lived in and stewarded the land of the Los Angeles basin for thousands of years. Joshua wasn’t miked when he described the mural, but it’s focal points are three circles with dolphins, an oak tree, and a scrub jay, depicted in a web of Tongva colors.

Joshua has been working on a parallel project — a lenten daily reader — in collaboration with Randy Woodley of Eloheh. Randy is a descendent of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. The reader is an introduction to settler colonialist Christians new to issues of the environmental, political and relational impact of colonialism that indigenous people are still experiencing.

Joshua’s next reference is to one of the readings of the day in Job 12:1-7, which reads:

But ask Behemoth, and he will teach you,
    the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;
or talk to earth, and it will teach you;
    the fish of the sea will recount it for you. 
Among all these, who hasn’t known
    that the Lord’s hand did this?

He asks, ”Can God really be revealed through the teaching of earth, birds and fish?” This passage describes the intuition to look for connection in the biodiversity of plants and animals around us — resources that God has put in our path to help cultivate our relationship with God and God’s creation. We can learn from our indigenous brothers and sisters in these areas — as we partner with others and with God.

Hear more in the audio below: