Day 3 – Brigden Family Farm 100th Anniversary

Pat & Bob Brigden along with their entire extended family celebrated the 100^th anniversary that their family has been farming the same plot of land in South Western Manitoba. Just outside of Melita, MB. a gathering of the local community along with family and friends raised a glass to the Brigden family for their dedication to the family farm and Canada’s agricultural heritage. Bob’s thick Purple Hills accent rang through the crowd as he shared his family’s history and honoured his ancestors. His speech started off by saying that everyone in attendance had a shared HISTORY, whether directly with the Brigden family, or with their connection to the land. This sense of history is another thing that all of humanity has in common. It is our histories that ground us in the present and provide an orientation for moving forward.

I recently heard a piece on CBC radio entitled “I Believe…” hosted by Preston Manning and guests reading short essays that start with, “I believe…” The episode that I am referring to had Izzy Asper’s son, talking about what he believes. He drew upon his Jewish heritage and the celebration of the Passover Seder where there is a prayer that is read stating that the welfare of all of mankind is the responsibility for everyone. This is especially true in the context of the Passover celebration where strangers are welcomed and expected at the table. A tradition where Jews remember their history of whence they came, and an opportunity to look forward to where they are going. The notion that this religion instils in its participants a sense of global responsibility is that much more important in today’s day and age when the world is getting smaller and strife is getting larger. The Asper essay rings true with the way that my family celebrates our Passover seder, where we bring in modern examples and issues that we as a collective can strive towards. Issues like extreme poverty, sustainable lifestyles, women’s rights have all been discussed around our table. Perhaps next year, we should take a page out of Asper’s essay and broaden our Passover experience to look at that prayer specifically and make a commitment, not only to recognizing our past during the seder, but to answer the call to action and adopt a more global understanding of our history. I wonder how we will achieve this without focusing on the “us/them” context that history seems to categorize social groups in…