Disciples and citizens
A group of men and women travelled the dusty roads, meeting people, eating together, hearing stories, pondering deep sayings, seeing miracles and conversing with their leader. They asked him about justice and poverty, about their neighbours and their enemies. They wanted to know who deserved to sit in the important seats. They had questions about points…
Faithful practices on a dying planet
Over the last few months, the reality of the climate crisis we are in the midst of has started to strike me in a new and terrible way. As the best-case scenarios for our planet grow more dire and the possibility of achieving even these scenarios grows more remote, it has started to dawn on…
Readers write: September 30, 2019 issue
Senior aches over ‘what the issue of LGBTQ+ has done’ Re: “Queer hymns now online,” Aug. 19, page 35. This, as I remember it, is my second letter to Canadian Mennonite over the many years. It is disturbing to read this article. Why do we have to change the wording of hymns to suit…
Where heaven and earth meet
The Temple of Heaven is one of my favourite places in China. It was the place where the emperor went several times a year to offer sacrifices and receive wisdom from the spiritual realm, in order to rule wisely. The temple, with its three-tiered, round, blue roof representing heaven, is surrounded by a square courtyard…
Aylmer community store
The Aylmer (Ont.) Mennonite Community Store and Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Aylmer Resource Centre are pictured after 1989. Both represent the response of the local community, Low German Mennonites and MCC Ontario to the increase in immigration of Low German Mennonites from Latin America into southwestern Ontario, beginning in the 1970s. Both organizations have become…
Intentional with our time
With fall schedules now well underway, I sense the pressure of a “busy” lifestyle creeping in on our days and cramping our summer style. I’ve chatted with many friends who have hopped right into the overwhelming patterns of rushing out the door to yet another soccer practice or piano lesson. With a rainy September and…
How to talk about money at your church
Christians give in grateful obedience to a generous God. Gratitude provides a wonderful pathway to the spiritual discipline of giving. God’s mercies to us are new every morning, and we have so much to be grateful for. Imagine that one or two Sundays every month, someone from the congregation shares a moment of gratitude during…
Revolutionary hospitality
When you search “hospitality” online, Google auto-fills with words like industry, services and tourism. You will find links to lodging, food and beverage establishments, entertainment and travel services, and hospitality management training institutions. What you don’t find, unfortunately, are links to Christianity or the church. Hospitality used to be the trademark of the early church.…
Finding spiritual fruits in Mennonite orchards
When Ly Vang was growing up on a farm in Laos, her family planted it own fruits, and her parents always said, ‘Whenever you eat fruit that tastes good, save the seed so you can plant it. That way you will have more delicious fruit!’ When I was growing up on a farm in Laos,…
