Carrying seeds from Colombia to Palestine
Five years ago I set out on a journey with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), providing international accompaniment to human rights defenders in Colombia. (See “Levelling the playing field.”) Now, as I transition into new experiences with CPT in Palestine, I will take with me the following lessons I have learned from brave Colombian peacemakers: Keep sowing…
Readers write: May 21, 2018 issue
‘Just one more example of a privileged western interpretation’ Re: “A peace that ignores Jesus’ atoning work” review of A Palestinian Theology of Liberation, April 9, page 24. While I have high respect for reviewer Harold Jantz and his work within the Mennonite church, I can’t help thinking that he has provided just one…
The racism around us
I like to think Canada is a progressive country, and discrimination is on the decline, but I’ve had a reality check. Recently, a group home caregiver, a Liberian woman, told me of her challenges with a difficult client who often wanders from the home. She has had to run after this client to keep her…
Touch for the good
I recently visited with my mother in the small room that is now her home. After travelling hours by airplane and car, my foot was swollen and sore. Having few options for relief, I lifted it and placed it beside her. She reached out, softly touched it, and asked how my foot, which had…
A new view of nature
I am so glad that summer is on the horizon. Spending time outdoors was a huge part of my childhood. My family shared many weekends at a small one-room cabin on a river, fishing, swimming, canoeing and just enjoying the beauty around us. We would watch the beavers make their way up and down the…
Carling Heights
This is the view that greeted Amish Mennonite farm boys Dan and Willie Brenneman when they were apprehended by military police and detained at the Carling Heights Military Camp in London, Ont. Despite their conscientious objector status, they were taken while working in a field in East Zorra Township in May 1918. For six weeks…
Environment matters today and tomorrow
I often hear people describe the church as being behind the times. What this means is that by the time the church addresses issues that were important to society last year, or last decade, most people have already moved on to more pressing issues that the church will be sure to deal with in…
Readers write: May 7, 2018 issue
Resurrection feature re-opens old wounds Re: “Is belief in Jesus’ resurrection necessary?” feature, March 12, page 4. The final sentence in Michael Pahl’s feature notwithstanding, both the title and content turn out to be an occasion to re-open wounds from the splitting apart of congregations over the very question of the resurrection. I have myself…
Wandering in the wilderness
This past weekend, I was invited to one of our small rural congregations to help it discern the future. The concern, as expressed by the congregation, is that if the status quo remains, the church will have to close its doors in a couple of years. Some options were presented: cut pastoral time from the…
The message and the messengers of salvation
It is truly remarkable that through hell and high water, the good news of Jesus has arrived to me, today, in 2018, in Canada. This is a miracle of God. Through persecution, the gospel has persisted. Despite the frequent destructive misuse of the message for coercion and power, the good news has carried on. Not…
