Moments of kindness
It wasn’t really a bad day, but there had been enough inconveniences to put me in a bad mood. I tripped and bruised my knee. The milk was sour, a fact I only discovered after it was in my mouth. I was stood up at a meeting I’d confirmed. The zipper on my jacket…
Change in the church is complicated
It was my first day on the job as associate pastor. I enthusiastically unlocked the door to my new office and was taken aback by the writing on the wall. Literally. There was a massive white banner hanging on the wall with a warning, handwritten in giant red letters, that read, “We don’t like change!”…
OK Economy Store
“In the spring of 1928, not quite 15 years after the settlement had begun, Jake Funk opened the new red-brick store on a prominent corner of Main Street in Blaine Lake, Sask. It had high steps leading to the front door and a bright red-and-white sign above it that read ‘OK Economy Store.’ In front,…
The way of the open palm
Growing up as a preacher’s son, I was immersed in Christian values. Every memory I have revolves around Vietnamese Mennonite Church in Ho Chi Minh City. I learned the way of Christ: to love my neighbours and to give to the poor. In Vietnam, we have a philosophy called “the way of the open palm.”…
Who is my neighbour?
Farmers with Firearms are flexing on Facebook. Indigenous activists are indignant. Justin Trudeau is straining to hit all the enlightened notes, as usual. And Murray Sinclair is urging justice reform, again. But will multicoloured juries, cardboard placards, online platitudes and Ottawa photo ops—all of which have their place—actually bring the healing and fairness needed for…
JoinMen for a better world
In recent months there has been unprecedented exposure of sexually predatory men in high places, as well as unprecedented violence perpetrated by solitary men with little or no regard for human life. Whether acting out of a sense of entitlement to use women, children or other men as objects for self-gratification and demonstration of power,…
Readers write: February 12, 2018 issue
Anabaptist Essentials ‘a quintessential travesty’ The following letter was abridged from one originally sent to Herald Press, the publisher of Palmer Becker’s Anabaptist Essentials. I’m writing to express amazement that you would have published Anabaptist Essentials, when what it presents is highly simplistic and seriously uninformed. Consider that there is no mention of the…
Receiving is important
The tale “The Christmas Guest,” as told by Johnny Cash on his album Christmas with Johnny Cash, is a fable about an old man, Conrad, who receives a message from an angel that the Lord will appear to him on Christmas Eve. Conrad readies his place, expectant for Jesus to knock at his door. But…
‘Those who are in Christ will live forevermore’
I love doing funerals. As a young pastor, I now have nine under my belt. It seems I enjoy them more with each one. To be honest, I haven’t had any difficult funerals to do yet. No tragic circumstances or painful dynamics to deal with. Each one being a dear old saint, ready to be…
On meeting St. Francis
‘The Ecstasy of St. Francis of Assisi,’ by Blas Muñoz, painted circa 1683-86. (Google Art project photo) I wouldn’t normally invite a stranger to stay in our house, but there was something about Jane (a pseudonym) that changed me. I was waiting for my son to finish a late hockey practice when she approached. She…
