HEALING AMERICA'S WOUNDS

by John Dawson

Published by Regal Books

(Division of Gospel Light)

Ventura, California

1994

Reviewed by

Allen Johnson

One of the darker blots splattered on the annals of American history is the Sand Creek massacre of 1864. Commanded by a former Protestant minister, a large contingent of U.S. soldiers swooped down upon an unsuspecting sleeping village of Arapahoe and Cheyenne to gruesomely butcher over a hundred mostly women, children, and elderly men. In January, 1993, Christian leaders representing both European and Native American stock met together on the bluffs overlooking the Colorado site to recount the story, grieve afresh the pain, confess the sin, and seek forgiveness, pardon, and reconciliation.

In his book, Healing America's Wounds, author John Dawson portrays America with an agenda of unfinished business of historical abuses, insults, and injustices that must be collectively reconciled before God and one another in order that the nation can achieve its destiny. So what is Dawson's version of manifest destiny? "This is the only nation consisting of people from every nation. Herein lies the clue to our destiny. I believe that Jesus intends to demonstrate a prototype of the culture of the world, reconciled to one another and released in their gifting, and He has chosen the American Church to become His example in a world without hope" (p. 263).

A native of New Zealand now living in an integrated LA neighborhood just down the block from where the Rodney King beating occurred, John Dawson does not avoid identification with the social sins of past generations. He is white, male, protestant, educated—each of these categories represents hurt to other people groups, so Dawson avails his identities to confess sorrow and seek forgiveness. Yet Dawson rightly refrains from blanket denunciation of ancestors. "Real reconciliation involves taking upon ourselves both the guilt and grandeur of our history and facing the implications squarely" (p. 164).

John Dawson is international director of Urban Ministries for Youth With A Mission (YWAM), as well as a founding member of the International Reconciliation Coalition. Dawson's very readable book interweaves numerous examples of estranged people groups experiencing healing using the principles of confession, repentance, reconciliation, and restitution. Certainly one of the brighter flames kindling within evangelical Christianity is a movement on several fronts toward racial reconciliation, Promise Keepers being the most visible. Healing America's Wounds dwells extensively on the cold historical realities of racial injustices to African-American and Native American peoples with the yet lingering bitter dregs. The church too often has been tragically implicated in fomenting division between the races, splintering even into denominational barriers. It is truly a sign of The Spirit moving upon our land that denominations such as The Southern Baptist are repenting of their historical racism with confession and tears.

Wounds and schisms flow in many streams. Dawson touches on the battle of the sexes, the cultural wars of right and left, even denominational arrogance. The challenges to reconciliation are many, a road that can only be paved on prayer. Yet Christ has committed to the Church the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18, 19), and breathed The Holy Spirit into us for our empowerment to discern and forgive sin (John 20: 21-23). Each of us in our identifications has been a wounder and a wounded. Each of us needs to representationally confess our sin, and each of us representationally needs to receive healing and give forgiveness. John Dawson articulates a passionate belief that the glory of the church is yet ahead if the responsibility to identificational repentance is heartfelt heeded.

In towns and cities across the nation, reconciliation has begun, with tears of sorrow precipitating embraces of newfound unity. New partnerships are covenanting, too, as suburban white churches and urban black churches discover meaningful shared life together. Restitution, too, is on the hearts of many. Following the Sand Creek gathering, a Denver oilman covenanted to volunteer royalties on his natural gas leases to the descendents of the indigenous peoples displaced by 19th century treaty violations (p. 163).

On that bright January day at Sand Creek the massacre story was painfully retold, tears of sorrow were shed, forgiveness was begged and extended, and holy communion was celebrated. Dawson writes,

One woman stretched herself out in the sand, touching the feet of an Indian pastor; deeply ashamed she wept for the lost generation that was cut off in this place. The sense of loss was upon us all; the beauty of what might have been had these two peoples walked together in integrity; the generations of alcoholism, suicide and despair that could have been avoided if a culture with the gospel in its roots had exemplified rather than defamed Jesus to a spiritually hungry people. Minutes turned to hours as the Spirit of God moved among us. As the day came to a close we took communion together, and walking in twos we descended to the sandy streambed where the bodies once lay. I knelt beside an ancient tree that must have witnessed these events and poured out the remainder of wine from my communion cup. I felt sure that people had taken shelter here and died. The red wine stained the snow where innocent blood was shed. I thanked Jesus for His innocent blood that takes away the sin of the world. (p. 148)

END

Additional Resources

International Reconciliation Coalition

P.O. Box 296

Sunland, California 91041-0296

ph. (818-896-1589)

Native American Chapter of North America

P.O. Box 1417

Castle Rock, Colorado 80104

ph. (303-660-9258)