[Sundaycommunity] René Fumoleau

[Jean Leahy]

Thanks Dean. I love this little piece from Rene Fumoleau. Jean

On Mon, Dec 9, 2024 at 6:12 PM Tina Neves via Sundaycommunity <
sundaycommunity at lists.integralshift.ca> wrote:

> Thank you Dean
> Yes, very good!
>
> On Mon, Dec 9, 2024 at 12:49 PM Dean Riley via Sundaycommunity <
> sundaycommunity at lists.integralshift.ca> wrote:
>
>> Greetings to all.
>>
>> While reflecting on the themes of advent - faith, hope, love & joy - I
>> remembered some thing I read many years ago, written by an Oblate priest
>> missionary … René Fumoleau. I couldn’t help but reflect on the audacity
>> and trust of those three “wise men” who set out to follow a star not really
>> not knowing where they would be led or what they would find. I hope you
>> enjoy the reflection below.
>>
>> Advent blessings…
>>
>> Dean.
>>
>> [image: image1.jpeg]
>>
>>
>> Born in France in 1926, René Fumoleau came to Denendeh (Northwest
>> Territories) as a young priest in 1953. Travel to Rádeli Kóé (Fort Good
>> Hope) involved a long boat journey down Dehcho (the Mackenzie River) into a
>> new world.
>>
>> Through all of the years, his attachment to the Dene peoples deepened. He
>> celebrated the strength of their ancestral wisdom and committed himself to
>> their desire for change.
>>
>> René Fumoleau served first as an Oblate priest (and eventually
>> incardinated into the Diocese of Mackenzie) in Northern Canada where he
>> lived for more than sixty years. Fumoleau was also a poet and published a
>> collection of his works reflecting on all he had learned during his time
>> among the Dene people.
>>
>> *Truck lights.*
>>
>> Winter time and very cold,
>> early afternoon but already dark.
>>
>> I’m driving from Yellowknife to Fort Rae in my 15 year old pick-up truck,
>>
>> and a Dene elder asked me for a ride.
>>
>> The land has taught the Dene
>>
>> to live in a world of silence.
>>
>> After ten kilometres, Kolchia reflects:
>>
>> “Driving the truck is like having faith in God.”
>>
>> I’m trying to figure out what he means, but, after two kilometres I give
>> up:
>>
>> “Grandpa, you talked about driving and faith in God.
>>
>> I’m not sure what you meant.”
>>
>> Kolchia turned slightly towards me:
>>
>> “You started the engine and you put the lights on. We could have said:
>>
>> ‘We see only one hundred metres ahead.
>>
>> Further on, it’s one hundred kilometres of darkness, so we cannot go to
>> Fort Rae.’
>>
>> But you got the truck in gear,
>>
>> we started to move,
>>
>> and the lights kept showing ahead of us.
>>
>> Must be the way with God too
>>
>> who shows us only a bit of the future,
>>
>> just enough for our next move.
>>
>> If we are afraid and if we stand still,
>>
>> we’ll never see further ahead.
>>
>> But if we go with the little light we have,
>>
>> the light keeps showing us the way on and on.”
>>
>> “*Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things
>> not seen.*” Hebrews 11:1
>>
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