The long path
In a recent adult Sunday school class, a member of my church spoke about her quarter-century journey of relating to Indigenous people. Twenty-five years and still learning, she admitted. Given the centuries of injustice and pain our neighbours have experienced, that doesn’t seem like such a long time. Mennonites in Canada have shown an interest…
From ‘never a teacher’ to ‘why not?’
“Never a teacher,” I declared from the time I was in public school, growing up in the Leamington district of southwestern Ontario. When I finished high school in Ontario, I enrolled at Canadian Mennonite Bible College (CMBC) in Winnipeg, and the “never a teacher” assertion played a prominent role in my mind through college, even…
Readers write: September 24, 2018 issue
Supporters of Ruth-Ann Klassen Shantz speak out on her behalf Re: “Decades-old sexual abuse comes to light,” Sept. 10, page 13. We have known Ruth-Ann Klassen Shantz for 20 years as a strong, confident woman, not knowing that underneath she was trapped in the living hell of a traumatized teen. We have supported Ruth-Ann as…
Peter’s Letter to Canadian Christians
To the friends living in the colonized lands of the Salish, Mi’kmaq and Innu. This is Peter, follower of the poor Christ, in prison on the West Coast. I write because the time is urgent. Some say, “The end of the world is at hand” (I Peter 4:7). Some say, “Eternity is being determined now.”…
Can we talk politics?
Some years ago, when Canada was in the midst of a federal election, my husband proposed that our church “talk politics.” Specifically, that we set aside time in the adult Sunday school class to examine the issues and the options being offered by different parties and candidates. The proposal was originally met with hesitation; people…
A wise decision
From the time we are young, most of us are taught that decisions about money are not to be taken lightly. Through experiences like saving up to buy a new bike, purchasing our first car and choosing a new home, we become familiar with budgeting, saving and praying about the big financial decisions in our…
Lonely creek
A lonely bridge over a creek near Winkler, Man., in 1907. A humble structure, but so very important. Bridges connected farmers to markets, children to schools, families to church, and pregnant women to midwives. Many of the everyday things that we use are humble pieces that someone has expended effort to make. We would do…
Finding worthiness in weakness
In II Corinthians 12:9, Paul shares a message he received from God in response to his personal struggles: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” It’s no small thing to trust that God’s grace is sufficient for us regardless of what we’re going through. To accept that God’s grace…
One in the Spirit of evangelism and service
People who are involved in service are typically practical, caring people; in other words, people of action. Of course the motivation for doing service is to follow Jesus and his teaching, to reach out to the weak, to the orphans and widows, and so on, according to Jeremiah 22:3 and James 1:27. People who have…
