Gifts of the table
Recently, my husband and I sat with friends at a table in an Ethiopian restaurant. As we dipped pieces of injera (sourdough flatbread) into the tasty sauces, we reported on our lives: a new business, a new grandchild, past school experiences, current professional realities. Consider what happens when people gather around the table: We…
An empty bowl
“Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with…
Peppernuts and anarsa
I recently learned to eat anarsa—a sweet, rice-based treat—while travelling in India visiting with Mennonite women, and learning about their religious lives and food practices. It was late February, but I was told that Christians in India normally prepare anarsa at Christmastime as a seasonal and festive treat. I couldn’t help but reflect on the…
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…
Mennonite pancakes
Pancakes played a role in the story told in “Mennonites connect over pancakes.” Here is a tasty recipe. In various Mennonite recipe books, this traditional “Russian Mennonite” fare is identified as German pancakes, Russian pancakes or Pflinzen. In Canada, they are sometimes referred to as crepes, to distinguish them from the more common raised pancakes,…
Mennonites connect over pancakes
It was more than 20 years ago when two Mennonites from Germany travelled to Ethiopia to explore the possibility of doing mission work with the Mennonite church there. After two weeks of searching for Mennonites in Addis Ababa, they finally located the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) office and received directions to a Meserete Kristos Church…
Shoplifting
Under the watchful eye of a Kitchener, Ont., store owner, a teenager browses the record collection. Shortly, she will slip one into her bag, and the owner will catch her in the act of shoplifting. This photo of a simulated crime is part of a slide show produced by the Access Project, a program of…
