Column by Mary Lee Talbot
As she began her sermon, the Rev. Suzanne Wenonah Duchesne took a moment to lead the congregation in a prayer — The Thanksgiving Address — from the Haudenosaunee, “the people of the longhouse,” who are part of the Iroquois Confederation. Duchesne acknowledged that she was speaking without permission of the people who originally lived on this land, but she wanted to honor them.
“Let us begin together as one,” she said and then gave thanks for all of creation, water, the creatures who live in the water, the plants and trees, the animals that live beside the humans, the birds, the light of the heavens, the sun, the moon, thanks for all who traveled safely to Chautauqua from afar and to the Creator, “who never stops creating, but is always making things new.”
Duchesne preached at the 10:45 a.m. Sunday morning worship service in the Amphitheater. Her sermon title was “This Little Light of Mine,” and the scripture reading was Matthew 5:1–16.
The song, “This Little Light of Mine,” was a favorite of Duchesne’s when she was growing up. She led the congregation in singing several verses of the song, including using an index finger to signify the candle and waving it back and forth.
“I can still remember sitting in the cold basement of the church and worrying about the light under the bushel basket catching fire. Then I worried about, what if I hid my light? How would I answer God? But before I could come to an answer, we had moved on to a new verse — Let it shine around the world,” she said.
This song, she noted, came into church music in the 20th century, especially during the Civil Rights Movement. “But it has done a great deal of harm. It was supposed to be a light for others, a city sitting on a hill. But in 2019, on a tour of Israel on the Sea of Galilee, our guide pointed out a city on a hill and suggested that might be the place Jesus spoke about.”
Duchesne continued, “I felt a twinge in my stomach. There were lots of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ over the guide’s excitement, but I was caught by surprise. They did not know the harm (that image) had done. We were all descendants of settlers or enslaved people, and everyone lived on the sovereign lands of Indigenous people and are responsible for their genocide.”
The use of the phrase “city on a hill” goes back to John Winthrop, one of the founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. In his address to the settlers, “A Model of Christian Charity,” he spoke of the importance of charity and unity among them. He urged strict adherence to the covenant they had made for living together, “so that God will dwell among us and all eyes will be upon us.”
Duchesne said, “It was not on his mind that the land was already filled with people.” She cited the papal bull, “The Doctrine of Discovery,” first set out in 1493. It allowed Europeans to take “empty” land, but if the land had people on it, they were to be evangelized. If the people refused to become Christians, they could be killed.
(In the United States, this was put into law by the Supreme Court in Johnson v. McIntosh (1823). Spearheaded by Chief Justice John Marshall, the Court’s decision stated that discovery gave European nations an exclusive right to acquire land, even if it was already occupied by Indigenous peoples. Indigenous inhabitants were deemed to have only a right of occupancy, which could be extinguished.)
“This decision has been polluting our government ever since,” Duchesne said. “Charles L. Campbell said, ‘Amnesia and a disconnect with history are important for the powers (that be).’ We have a need for reform and to set people free.”
She continued, “The idea of the city on a hill continues to do harm. Winthrop’s speech has been used as the origin of American civilization, as if any people here before the Puritans were uncivilized.”
It was not until Duchesne spent time with, prayed with and learned from Indigenous guides that she began to discover a new way of being in community, of being in relationship with Indigenous people and to examine her identity in light of these new contacts.
“This verse of ‘This little light of mine’ can be redeemed,” she said. “I am speaking today with your permission, but not with the permission of the people of this land. I know I am not alone; I want to hear what you are doing. I know some of you have been here nine generations or just came today or are online, but unless you are a member of the First Nations, we have a history to uncover and a deeper understanding to answer to the spirit that is within us.”
Duchesne continued, “Our humanity, with all its flaws, was created to shine with an eternal light which allows God’s goodness to stream (into the world). Hide?”
“No,” said the congregation.
“Hide?” she asked again.
“No,” came the reply, louder than the first time.
“Amen.”
The Rt. Rev. Eugene T. Sutton, senior pastor for Chautauqua, presided. Deborah Sunya Moore, senior vice president and chief program officer at Chautauqua, read the scripture. Owen Reyda, organ scholar, played “Prélude à cinque parties,” by Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens, as the prelude on the Massey Memorial Organ. The Chautauqua Choir sang “O For a Closer Walk with God,” music by Charles Villiers Stanford and text by William Cowper. The choir was under the direction of guest organist/conductor James E. Bobb and accompanied on the Massey Organ by Laura Smith, organ scholar. The offertory anthem, sung by the Chautauqua Choir, was “The Lord My Light,” music by Thomas W. Jefferson and text from Psalm 27. The choir was again directed by Bobb, who also played the Steinway piano, and was accompanied on the Massey Organ by Reyda. Smith played the postlude “Fiat Lux,” by Théodore Dubois. Support for this week’s chaplaincy and preaching is provided by the Mr. and Mrs. William Uhler Follansbee Memorial Chaplaincy.
