When I used to work in kids' camps during the summer months, sometimes the kids would come up with the most important stories. This young man of about 15 told me his story of visiting a zoo that went wrong.
He spoke. As a group, we arrived at a small pond and on the other side of the pond was a flock of flamingoes. Jamie (not his real name) picked some stones and started skipping them across the water. As a young man, I would've been doing the same thing. Jamie found the perfect stone. It was wonderfully flat and had enough weight to carry itself through the water for ultimate distance. Jamie was solidly built and was trying to impress some of the girls. He let his perfect rock go with all his might. It skimmed close to the surface, slicing through the water like a priest running from a pedophilia scandal. The energetic youth were captivated and cheering on the stone. It looked like the rock would make it across the entire pond. The flamingoes were uninterested in what the kids were doing until the was a loud audible crack.
What happened next was bizarre. Sometimes, disasters appear to shift into slow motion. People's long-term memories activate instantly, and their minds are stained forever by various tragedies. When the haunting sound of the crack happened, one of the flamingo's legs snapped. Jamie's and the other youth's memories recorded one of the most beautiful birds being critically injured and in the throes of death. The innocent bird flailed and screamed. The other birds left the area, leaving the once majestic creature helpless in the water. An ugly scene. The zookeeper said, "There is nothing that can be done for the bird, and she will have to be put down." Jamie went from being a hero to slaughtering innocent, stolen, and imprisoned rare birds.
Lessons we learn from youth and life are embedded in this story. The only advice I could offer Jamie was to apologize. A complete and thorough reconciliation with your money or/and your physical help to the flamingoes or at least birds, or even the zoo. Zoo's always needed volunteer help and money. These captive animals are continually persecuted, isolated, othered, and imprisoned on this land, where freedom once existed.
This story offers a metaphor. "The Pope [via Papal Bulls, 1455, 1493] powerfully threw a stone. His stone was a stumbling block for Indigenous people. Residential schools, day schools, Indian agents, 60's scoop, Ceremonial outlawing, land theft, medical experiments on children, racial "othering," killing of Bison on the grasslands, the killing of sled dogs, restricted water and infrastructure on reserves. There are many more tragedies. The Pope threw this stone from a distant land and distant time reverberates today with the power that comes from complicit lambs. Today, the Pope recognized the destruction of innocent people. Today the Pope apologized for centuries of deaths and persecutions. (April 01, 2022).