Canadian Foodgrains Bank meeting
Categories: OpinionThe Canadian Foodgrains Bank had its beginnings in 1975 as the Mennonite Central Committee Food Bank. In November 1982, representatives of 10 Christian denominations met to discuss plans for an inter-church foodgrains bank. Among those at the meeting, pictured left…
Holy curious living
Categories: OpinionIn late January, Eric Harder died at age 74. He was my friend. I became acquainted with Eric 25 years ago, when I moved to Prince Albert to begin my ministry work. Both he and Velma were strong presences in…
What I learned from Ramadan
Categories: OpinionWe were in the midst of the Christian season of Lent as I wrote this. Shortly after Lent ended and Easter came, Muslims began the season of Ramadan. The month-long period of daily fasting launched on April 23. The couple…
‘You listened to my cry’
Categories: OpinionDear God: I’m really not sure what to pray or how to feel these days. I’ve become a strange blend of anxious and relaxed, concerned and content, grateful and restless, ambitious and listless. Nothing really changes from day to day…
Readers write: April 27, 2020 issue
Categories: OpinionLet Wet’suwet’en exercise their right to self-determination Re: “Who do you support when a community is divided?” Feb. 17, page 20. I appreciate Canadian Mennonite opening up the dialogue on the Wet’suwet’en and Coastal Gas issue from a variety of…
‘Peace be with you’
Categories: OpinionThere is a post-resurrection story that I find helpful this Easter as I contemplate the changing world around me. It is found in the Gospel of John, where we read that Jesus encounters his closest friends in their hiding place…
CO foresters
Categories: OpinionConscientious objectors (COs) played an important role on the Canadian volunteer scene during the Second World War. Among the assignments was work in the forests around Banff, Alta., clearing trees. Surprisingly, much of the parks system in Canada was established…
Work-play-rest
Categories: OpinionAs our life has quite abruptly and drastically shifted, along with everyone’s around the globe, I have been reflecting on our daily rhythm and working at reorganizing our schedule into a work-play-rest rhythm. We used to really enjoy a lazy…
Salt for the earth
Categories: OpinionThese weeks of physical distancing, including Easter, have forced us to think more about what it means to be the church. We appreciate the phrase “the church has left the building!” We identify with Jesus’s disciples on Easter, huddled behind…
The power of paradox
Categories: OpinionChristianity is rooted in paradox. A paradox is when two or more incompatible truths are held together to reveal a deeper hidden truth. An example of a paradox in Christianity is that the Kingdom of God is both already here…
Readers write: April 13, 2020 issue
Categories: OpinionReader was ‘struck by’ Easter feature’s deficiencies Re: “Out of holy weakness, mysterious power arises,” March 16, page 4. I am thankful for this article and the attempt to imagine how to talk to 12-year-olds about the crucifixion. It struck…
In uncharted waters
Categories: OpinionAs with everybody else, my life and work these past few weeks have been a scramble to adjust and respond to the ever-evolving pandemic that has now hit us here in Canada as well. I am a pastor in a…
Mennonite resistance
Categories: OpinionTourists attempt to photograph boys outside of the Elmira Old Order Mennonite Meetinghouse, circa 1970. The boys are using a hand mirror to thwart their efforts. The photo appeared in the local newspaper with the caption “Mennonite Resistance.” After the…
How broad is salvation?
Categories: OpinionSomeone told me recently that they had been asked to share their faith journey in a Sunday morning church service. The invitation, however, came with an addendum: “Don’t talk about universalism.” At the end of that conversation, I reached for…
The public good in a time of pandemic
Categories: OpinionThe COVID-19 pandemic feels surreal. Streets of our cities are nearly empty, even at rush hour. Kids are home, schools have gone online, and some workers log in from home after many years of regular commutes to an office. And…
Smudged with humanity
Categories: OpinionIt often feels like the God I encounter in Scripture is a completely different God than the one I profess to follow and worship. In Jeremiah 45, God speaks relatively tenderly to the Israelites displaced after the exile, saying: “Do…
Mennonite encounters with contemplative prayer
Categories: OpinionDoug Klassen, who now serves as Mennonite Church Canada’s executive minister, confessed to a fellow pastor that he couldn’t pray for more than 10 minutes. “I came to a place where I kept running into myself when I was praying,”…
Readers write: March 30, 2020
Categories: OpinionMC Canada’s ‘limbs’ are letting its ‘torso’ down Re: “A call to strengthen our core,” Feb. 17, page 4. I am disappointed by the responses of the “limbs” to the cry of the “torso.” We must do better. Doug Klassen,…
Beautiful and terrible connections
Categories: Opinion“Know we are connected in ways that are terrible and beautiful.” Last week I lingered over this line in a poem by Lynn Ungar on Facebook as I pondered the COVID-19 crisis. I am living into this crisis in Germany,…
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