In tribute
The mourners gathered for what turned out to be an exceptionally beautiful service for an exceptionally beautiful saint. The family tributes shone with love and tenderness. The music was angelic. The sermons were theologically rock-solid and inspiring. The funeral of David “Doc” Schroeder on Oct. 2, 2015, was an occasion to open our hearts to…
Regrets on parting with my old bicycle
This past summer I had my own Diderot Effect moment. The term comes from Grant McCracken, an anthropologist who has studied patterns of consumption. He coined it from an essay written by Denis Diderot, a French philosopher in the late 18th century. Diderot’s essay, “Regrets on parting with my old dressing gown,” opens with a…
Honouring the epic journey of food
I came across an article about the epic journey of sugar from a sugarcane field on the Hawaiian island of Maui to a nearby coffee shop down the road. It claimed the sugar travelled about 16,000 kilometres to arrive at its final destination a little over a kilometre away. It was shipped from Maui to…
Does religion make people intolerant?
Predictably, CBC jumped on the story of presumed Bible Belt intolerance. The members of our smallish Southern Manitoba credit union voted down a merger with a larger Winnipeg-based credit union and the rumblings here were that the city credit union’s “sharia” mortgages did not align with “local values.” In a column entitled “Sickened by ‘Christian’ opposition,” Winkler…
Radio host Esther Horch, 1958
Radio host Esther Horch interviews school children live on a Saturday morning broadcast of Children’s Party in 1958. This education and entertainment show for children aired daily on CFAM from Altona, Man. Founded in 1956 by Mennonite shareholders, CFAM could reach 90 percent of Manitoba’s population. The station broadcast a mix of news, commentary, meditations,…
Readers write: October 12, 2015 issue
Relationships in an age of ‘impacts and outcomes’ Re: “The future of MCC,” Aug. 31, page 11. Certainly relationship has been at the core of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) for many years. But is that still really the case? I began my first MCC assignment in 1990 when we used to talk about the importance…
Recapturing the momentum of reconciliation
Since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission events, there has been limited movement and engagement for local churches with regard to first nation relationship development. Many have been asking, “What can we do next?” The better question is, “How can we be better in walking out this talk of reconciliation with our indigenous neighbours?” There are…
Jesus in a world in upheaval
A number of weeks ago I boarded a plane in Toronto for Istanbul. It’s a long flight—more than nine hours—and I secretly hoped that the seat beside me would remain empty so I could stretch out and sleep. It wasn’t to be. A young man in his late 20s plopped down beside me. I did…
Adopted and given my wings
I was born in Bukavu in Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaïre). My parents were polygamous so I didn’t have a great family structure. I grew up Roman Catholic and then, at age 17, I was baptized in the Pentecostal church. As a child, life in Congo was extremely difficult. I lived under the dictatorship…
Readers write: September 28, 2015 issue
Mennonite museum can help redress grievous wrongs of the past I crisscross Sumas Prairie (central Fraser Valley) on my daily school bus run and marvel at the lush agricultural land and the ingenious canal system that completed the draining of Sumas Lake in 1924, releasing more than 13,000 hectares of rich lake-bottom and marsh land…
