From Zacchaeus to climate justice
Categories: OpinionAn encounter with Jesus is a call for transformation. Such is the story of Zacchaeus. Jesus noticed him watching from a tree and invited himself for dinner. Zacchaeus must have known Jesus often preached against those with wealth who took…
To be no longer known
Categories: OpinionPsalm 103 contains familiar and beautiful lines that speak of the Lord as being gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. They’re lovely, but that’s not what struck me in my most recent read-through. Instead, I was…
Singing and praying with Indigenous Christians
Categories: OpinionIn order to fully embrace the diversity of the church and to live into God’s reign of justice and peace, it is necessary to sing and pray with Indigenous Christians. Songs are a force for solidarity. Solidarity is a source…
A cycle of practical love
Categories: OpinionMy memories of high school are largely a featureless blur—I did graduate 40 years ago—but one incident that stands out in detail is a lecture in my vocational agriculture class. Mr. Upp drew an illustration of nutrient cycling on the…
Children forgotten in peacebuilding activities
Categories: OpinionFor the past two years, the Meserete Kristos Church (MKC)—the Anabaptist denominational body in Ethiopia—has been working with communities and local institutions to restore peace between warring ethnic groups in the Nono district of the West Shewa Zone of Oromia…
Readers write: August 25, 2023 issue
Categories: OpinionHumans, humus and healing The portrait of a family living a subsistence-level lifestyle (“Humans and Humus,” July 28) might well serve to trigger a resolve to be more self-sustaining and less wasteful in many. Seems to me, though, that eschewing…
Creating a community of calling
Categories: OpinionThe first time I remember hearing of a shortage of pastors was over 35 years ago. I was in the process of completing my Bible College degree, and a conference leader was encouraging me to consider a career in pastoral…
A blended family
Categories: OpinionIn December 1924, this family was starting a new life in more ways than one. Katharina (Enns Rempel) and Jacob P. Braun, both widowed, separately emigrated from the Soviet Union to Ontario. A few weeks after their arrival, they were…
Deconstructing or reconstructing?
Categories: OpinionI heard some strong language this summer about church from various extended family members. I’m sure this is not just in my family! Conversation at family gatherings is not usually conducive for more thoughtful or caring conversations, but these phrases…
Organic architecture
Categories: OpinionThis is the first summer I haven’t gone camping for at least 25 years, maybe my entire life. Since Tammy and I got married 23 years ago, our family holidays have focused on hiking, kayaking and sleeping in tents. Often…
The hopeful demise of ethnocentrism
Categories: OpinionPerhaps you remember the 2000 box office hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It tells the story of a young Greek American woman, Toula Portokalos, falling in love with a non-Greek WASP, Ian Miller. Her family struggles to accept him…
Learning about waiting
Categories: OpinionI’ve been learning about waiting. After avoiding it for three years, I tested positive for COVID-19 at the beginning of July—just in time to disrupt the return of the Grand Wallace Road Trip. Each year we pile the kids into…
Vibrant, powerful book explores family violence
Categories: OpinionIn his new book Shattered, Arthur Boers writes, “I realized that I never understood my father, our relationship, or even myself.” In this coming-of-age story, Boers explores his relationship with his father, trying to make sense of why he both…
Readers write: July 28, 2023 issue
Categories: OpinionIn defense of dandelions I feel compelled to suggest, in a brotherly fashion, that Brother Buddy Andres re-examine his “different strokes for different folks” stance vis-a-vis dandelions, in which he wishes for a heaven without dandelions (June 30, letters). Is…
Executive road trip
Categories: OpinionIt was a tour to remember: three days, seven venues, spanning Manitoba from east to west. Recently, Mennonite Church Canada Executive Minister Doug Klassen and I travelled around the province to meet with 45 pastors and other congregational leaders from…
The three blessings of June 17
Categories: OpinionAs I swing my legs out of bed, with a hip-to-heel grumble from a sciatic nerve, I experience a moment of curiosity: What new thing will the day bring, what blessing will come? Saturday, June 17th, was such a day.…
Thinking about leisure
Categories: OpinionIt’s summer and many of us have thoughts about vacations and so-called down time. What do these things mean for your spiritual practice? Knowing that I was about to launch into a 12-day bike tour, someone suggested I write about…
Mightier than the mountains of prey
Categories: OpinionI love the outdoors, but I’ll admit I’m far from being able to call myself a legitimate outdoorsman. I romanticize the idea of living out in the bush, being off the grid, being self-sustaining, focusing on survival. But I know…
Is the theory of inerrancy inerrant?
Categories: OpinionZack Hunt was shocked when his Old Testament professor slammed a Bible against the chalkboard and shouted, “Stop worshipping this book!” In Hunt’s American fundamentalist upbringing, the Bible was considered inerrant—free of all errors, and not to be slammed against…
Opinion/columns
