My environmentalism is my spiritual ethic
A couple weeks ago I participated in an e-mail conversation with two friends about justifying the choice to have children in the wake of the earth’s environmental crisis. I know. A heavy topic with difficult questions. Luckily these friends and I are close enough that we can wrestle with uncomfortable questions and share our opinions…
Ways we warm each other’s hearts
On July 4, following the Mennonite Women Canada annual business meeting in Winnipeg, more than 80 women gathered for a program of choral music and inspirational talks by three Manitoba women, Sandy Hung, Anne Heinrichs and Lora Braun, who focussed on the Mennonite Church Canada assembly theme, “Wild hope: Faith for an unknown season.” The…
Creating child-friendly worship
As your advocate for children in the life of the church, I continually encourage others to offer child-friendly worship services. Assembly 2014 worship planners offered a fine example of doing just that by inviting children to help out with the closing service on July 3, and making them feel at home. The elements were simple…
The deadly sin of greed
On a perfectly lovely summer day last month, I joined a couple hundred people for a worship service on the edges of a wheat field. The crop on the field is dedicated to the work of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Each year, individual farmers from Catholic, Lutheran and Mennonite churches join with local seed, fertilizer…
Beware of ‘undue influence’
Back in 2011, I met with an elderly person to assist her with will and estate planning. “Maggie’s” intentions were to name a couple of friends as executors and give her entire estate to a lone surviving family member with whom she didn’t have much contact. Just recently I received a call from her. Maggie…
‘New Coke’ church
In the spring of 1985, Coke decided to change the recipe of its flagship beverage for the first time in 99 years. The intensity of consumer rejection was unprece-dented. Protesters took to the streets. A group called Old Cola Drinkers of America gained national coverage by pouring new Coke down the drain and began organizing…
Readers write: September 1, 2014 issue
‘Whatever happened to forgiveness?’ Re: Pastor’s credentials withdrawn,” July 7, page 23. When I read the short release regarding Tym Elias, I was reminded of similar situations where church leaders have been put out to pasture without food and water. I fail to see how this judgmental way of dealing with persons in leadership who…
Readers write: August 18, 2014 issue
Young Voice paints true picture of life in Israel/Palestine Re: “A constant terrifying threat,” May 26, page 36, and “Altruistic young person ‘taken in by propaganda’ ” letter, June 23, page 12. Reading Chloe Bergen’s Young Voices article we were both impressed with the thoughtfulness and care she took in writing about the situation in…
Musings on creation’s final groan
Will the day ever come when I will be able to look at the beauty of a flower in its original home without feeling the urge to pluck and pull and cut until it is firmly forced into a contrived bouquet, and nature is left bereft of its glory? Will the day ever come when…
We need to regain our sense of wonder
We’re at a fun and befuddling stage of life. We have little children, our youngest is just six months, and teenagers. I enjoy both, and the opportunity to escape one for the other at times. I love the debates and conversation you can have with a teenager. You have to hit the right moment—and topic—but…
