Mend our beating heart
Categories: OpinionMy grandfather, Harry Giesbrecht, referred to the country, language and people of Ukraine as his “beating heart.” The many trips back “home” breathed life into his aging lungs. The cool water of the Dnieper, the pothole-riddled roads near Lichtenau, Molochansk…
Readers write: March 21, 2022 issue
Categories: OpinionA pastoral letter regarding Ukraine Beloved sisters and brothers in Ukraine: Today, war has come to your homeland. We grieve the danger, death and destruction that this plague brings. We stand in solidarity with you as persons of shared faith…
Life can be real
Categories: Opinion“Life can be real / on a snowmobile,” croons Canadian music legend Stompin’ Tom Connors in one of his many songs about Canadian life and culture. As someone who occasionally dabbles in songwriting myself, I have often had a chuckle…
Kitchener MWC Assembly
Categories: OpinionMennonite Publishing House occupies a corner in the Kitchener (Ont.) Auditorium with its bookstand at the Mennonite World Conference assembly in 1962. Three women in the foreground gravitate towards the parenting books and the bestselling Mennonite Community Cookbook, while two…
‘Make your tents large’
Categories: OpinionIn my federal voting life, I have voted only for the Liberal party. When I suggested that as the opening sentence for my next Canadian Mennonite column, my two eldest granddaughters, 17 and 20, immediately began guessing at the percentage…
A culture of peace
Categories: OpinionThe very day that Russia sent tanks across the Ukrainian border, a book on nonviolence arrived at my door. Sometimes I wonder if God does that sort of thing intentionally. As an advocate of nonviolence, I have been queried frequently…
A blip in the family tree
Categories: OpinionAs I read through long lists of descendants in the first chapters of First Chronicles, some names are familiar, like the sons of Jacob and other names I’ve encountered in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus. Achar (also Achin in Joshua 7)…
How I learned to stop worrying and love the comet
Categories: OpinionWhat would you do if you heard that all life on earth was about to end? This is the premise behind Don’t Look Up, an Academy Awards best-picture nominee, released on Netflix in December and already one of the most…
Readers write: March 7, 2022 issue
Categories: OpinionThank you for sharing Janzen tribute Re: “Simple wonder, peculiar generosity,” Jan. 24, page 4. I recall meeting Annie Janzen for the first time at an event hosted at/by Canadian Mennonite Bible College in Winnipeg in the late ’60s or…
Joining the Office of Fun
Categories: OpinionAfter four decades of ministry primarily focused on youth, young adults and young leaders, I welcomed the invitation to become the director of congregational ministries within Mennonite Church Manitoba. As congregations walk into the future, they know that the work…
Waldemar Janzen
Categories: OpinionAt the 1970 Conference of Mennonites in Canada annual sessions in Winkler, Man., Waldemar Janzen, a Canadian Mennonite Bible College professor, gave a report on young people, stating: “Not everything is wrong with young people today. There is a great…
Civil disobedience
Categories: OpinionI smiled seeing a friend post on Facebook, tongue firmly in cheek, that civil disobedience is fine as long as he agrees with the issue. I’ve participated in my share of protest marches: anti-nuclear weapons, anti-war, anti-racism, anti-colonialism and anti-fossil-fuel…
Reta-coloured lenses
Categories: OpinionI’m not sure what happened over the past two years. Maybe I finally accepted that it’s over. We’ve passed the point of no return. Climate change; democracy collapse; and the death of common sense, dialogue and civility. This is our…
A prayerful reflection on the protests of February 2022
Categories: OpinionLord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. When tensions grow, positions harden, and hearts grow cold, we call for Canadians to pause, step back and reflect. We see that (on Feb. 3) Ontario declared a state of emergency because of…
Readers write: February 21, 2022 issue
Categories: OpinionMC Canada executive ministers release statement on ‘freedom rallies’ The day after thousands of truckers and other protesters converged on Parliament Hill in late January to call for an end to COVID-19 mandates and other public health restrictions, Mennonite Church…
Fatigue, polarization, uncertainty
Categories: OpinionThese three words, at least for me, capture strong feelings I experience as I work with congregations and pastoral leaders at this time. We have entered a time when we are not where we were and not yet where we…
Klippenstein house
Categories: OpinionThis is a photo of the home of Bernhard Klippenstein (1880-1973) and Maria (nee Dyck) Klippenstein (1882-1956) in Waldheim, Northwest Territories. They moved from Altbergthal, near Altona, Man., to Waldheim around 1902. They returned to Altbergthal around 1907. I enjoy…
Unexpected sparkles
Categories: OpinionA friend called last week. Tony (a pseudonym) had undergone surgery in a Saskatoon hospital, had recuperated for a number of days, and was needing a ride home to Prince Albert, Sask. I’ve known Tony for 25 years. He was…
CPT changed its name
Categories: OpinionThe organization formerly known as Christian Peacemaker Teams has changed its name, replacing the meaning of that first letter with “Community.” I have two reactions. First, the name change is good for the organization. Second, it shows that the broader…
Wrestling with fairy-tale endings
Categories: OpinionWarning: Spoiler alert for Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns. I have a mental list of Disney movies I wish would end differently, movies that might actually pack a better punch if they didn’t have the fairy-tale ending where everything resolves perfectly…
Opinion/columns
