Readers Write: November 2024
Good people hurt by MCC I am writing this letter in support of the individuals who wrote and signed the open letter to Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and in support of the former and current MCC service workers and staff who have been and continue to be hurt by MCC. I personally know of former…
Seeing clearly
I saw a commercial during a hockey game recently that ended with an image of an Uber Eats bag sitting beside a bowl of macaroni and cheese and a Kraft Dinner box. This struck me as odd. I wondered, what’s the connection between Uber Eats and Kraft Dinner? A few minutes later, the same commercial…
Restless hearts in Hollywood
So, a struggling actor and a pastor walk into a bar … What sounds like a setup for a lame joke was my reality one afternoon in the Rockies last year. My wife was attending some meetings, and I came along for the ride. Another tag-along and I found ourselves meandering around town before landing…
Resourcing the Anabaptist church
Over 500 years, the Anabaptist community has grown to be a diverse and global expression of faith. The resources of Anabaptism reflect this diversity. Mennonite World Conference (MWC) represents most Christian churches rooted in the Anabaptist movement. In addition to the ongoing resourcing work of its commissions and networks, MWC has several significant resource titles:…
Readers Write: October 2024
Love and Hate I agree with Ryan Dueck’s insightful article, “A place for hate” (June 2024), particularly in today’s harsh world. In Ecclesiastes 3, Solomon observed there is a season for everything, including love and hate. This may seem chilling. Yet, Solomon also acknowledged that God makes everything beautiful in its time. Finding peace requires…
Singing Back the Buffalo
Last week I attended a screening of Singing Back the Buffalo, written and directed by Tasha Hubbard, with my family at the Regina Public Library Film Theatre. The last time we’d seen buffalo together was in 2018 in Grasslands National Park. I wanted my kids to see the keystone species of our ecoregion. To know their…
A live play, an endless search committee
My husband and I attended a performance of A Salesman in China at the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario this week. The play, set in 1983, is based on the true story of the American playwright Arthur Miller traveling to China to direct the performance of his play, Death of a Salesman. Relations between the two…
On the death of Grand Chief Cathy Merrick
Last Friday, Cathy Merrick, Grand Chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, collapsed while speaking to reporters outside the Law Courts building in Winnipeg. She was taken to hospital but did not survive. She was 62. Prior to serving as Grand Chief, Merrick was Executive Council member and then Chief of Pimicikamak Okimawin, the Cree…
Spelling bees and air shows
For me, Toronto’s Canadian National Exhibition is a touchpoint, reminding me of my childhood, and a sign that summer is coming to an end. When I was a child, my parents, siblings and I would come to the CNE, as we called it, several times during its three-week season. Showing my age, I will tell…
Binding and loosing in an age of division
For the past three years, the United States has been my home, and in the U.S., division is impossible to ignore. Liberals on the left, conservatives on the right. Of course, Canada is not immune to these divisions, and neither is the church. In this context, what hope does the church have of discerning the…
