We’re having a baby boy. We’re excited and scared and overwhelmed and underprepared. Mostly excited, but it’s taken me a little while to get here. I have two young girls. They are... Read More
Blog
I’m a fan of new beginnings and fresh starts and the start of the New Year is the ultimate in possibilities and promise. Yes, I am a fan, a big fan, of New Year’s resolutions. I... Read More
January 8, 2015 | Tamara Petkau
We are accustomed to reading the narrative of the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38) as something of an ethereal event, a moment of encounter with the divine realm during which Mary’s... Read More
December 23, 2014 | Susanne Guenther Loewen
We are accustomed to reading the narrative of the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38) as something of an ethereal event, a moment of encounter with the divine realm during which Mary’s... Read More
December 23, 2014 | Susie Guenther Loewen
Time. We never seem to have enough of it, and yet it dominates us, ruling our days and how we view and spend our hours, even our very lives. Time was Professor John Swinton’s... Read More
December 12, 2014 | Susie Guenther Loewen
Did you know that Thursday, November 27 was American Thanksgiving? You might not, since this holiday seems to have faded into the shadows of the sinister Black Friday—which is... Read More
November 28, 2014 | Tamara Petkau
“So they took up arms, these and a million other Canadians - men and women - who put on the uniform and beat their ploughshares into swords.” – Prime Minister Stephen Harper “The... Read More
November 9, 2014 | Susie Guenther Loewen
I am a big fan of CBC Radio. In our house, it takes the place of the TV, and it plays almost non-stop in our small kitchen, providing me with comforting background noise. On... Read More
October 30, 2014 | Tamara Petkau
It’s full on fall and what a lovely season it is. We spent last weekend browsing the stalls at our local farmer’s market, stealing samples and purchasing way too many baked goods... Read More
October 30, 2014 | Tamara Petkau
I’m finding it difficult to respond without cynicism as I think about the violent events which occurred in Ottawa this past week. By now, we’ve heard the sequence of events... Read More
October 26, 2014 | Susie Guenther Loewen
At the beginning of this month, I had the pleasure of going to “Ex-Mennonite, Near Mennonite: Liturgical, Non-denominational, Secular,” a conference hosted by the Chair in... Read More
October 22, 2014 | Susie Guenther Loewen
Do you know a lot about Pies, Peace, and Prophets? Come to a live comedy performance of I’d Like to Buy an Enemy by Ted and Company. Bring a handcrafted pie for auction (along... Read More
October 18, 2014 | Brandi Friesen Thorpe
Mary Magdalene is one of the most controversial and mysterious biblical characters. She often gets a bad rap. She was pegged as a prostitute and temptress by Pope Gregory I, and... Read More
October 8, 2014 | Cassandra Bangay
This is midpoint in my five-week ministry here in Gaza and Bethlehem. Things are going well. While my students in Gaza are doing research, book reports and various kinds of... Read More
October 6, 2014 | Palmer Becker
I am writing this from prison. All 1.8 million of us who are living in Gaza are in prison. The walls around Gaza keep us (except us privileged foreigners) from leaving to work, to... Read More
October 6, 2014 | Palmer Becker
Hello fellow Mennonites, near Mennonites, and perhaps even ex-Mennonites . I just want to take a quick to highlight an event going on this weekend in Winnipeg -- it sounds like a... Read More
October 2, 2014 | Brandi Friesen Thorpe
Jesus said, “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly... Read More
September 30, 2014 | Tamara Petkau
I've been thinking a lot about what I've been studying in the last year, including a biography of Gandhi. It has left me with some interesting reflections on dust, truth and... Read More
September 30, 2014 | Brandi Friesen Thorpe
The CMU Farmers Market is TODAY folks! We've got 28 vendors lined up, a toonie lunch (farmer sausage on a bun) to offer, and a forecast of sunshiney goodness. Also, I'll be a... Read More
September 27, 2014 | Brandi Friesen Thorpe
September has been a whirlwind of change. It always is. One day we’re enjoying the lazy days of summer, when our mornings are spent park-hopping, lunches are always picnics, and... Read More
September 25, 2014 | Tamara Petkau
It's been quite a while since I have posted here. This September is the least busy that I have been in a long time, and I intend to take some time to read, write, and reflect, as... Read More
September 15, 2014 | Max Kennel
In his famous address at 1984 Mennonite World Conference, in Strasbourg, France, Ron Sider described shalom as “being in right relationship with God, neighbor and the earth.”... Read More
September 2, 2014 | Cassandra Bangay
I’ve recently started the practice of praying with my one-year-old son before bed. We’ve had mealtime prayers going for a while now, usually in the form of a song, and at night I... Read More
August 31, 2014 | Susie Guenther Loewen
It’s been over a month since the Mennonite Church Canada Assembly was held in my new/old hometown of Winnipeg, but I for one am still thinking about everything I heard there. I... Read More
August 26, 2014 | Susie Guenther Loewen
I have been absent from this blog for a while. I wish I had a grand excuse, like gallivanting around Europe, or road tripping across the country, or building a treehouse for my... Read More
August 22, 2014 | Tamara Petkau