The adventure of leadership
I got my first taste of journalism at a Mennonite school. As a second-year English major, I began writing for The Weather Vane, the student newspaper at Eastern Mennonite College (now Eastern Mennonite University), in Harrisonburg, Va. The following year I accepted the challenge of becoming co-editor of the features section. Since those years, I’ve followed…
How long until the fullness of time?
There is an old story that when Michelangelo was painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Pope Julius would come by to yell up at him in the scaffolding, “When will my ceiling be ready?” Michelangelo would grit his teeth and mutter, “When it is finished.” In Mark 5, Jesus enters a town and a…
Readers write: February 4, 2019 issue
CM, Miriam Toews criticized for exploiting Bolivian rape case Re: “Moderns ghosts of a horse-drawn scandal,” Oct. 8, Oct. 22, Nov. 5, Nov. 26, 2018, issues. I feel that Miriam Toews’s book Women Talking exploits the sad situation in the Manitoba Colony in Bolivia and is obviously written by a person who has never been…
Relational engagements outside the church
This past week I attended a cluster meeting with a small group of pastors from southern Manitoba to talk about mission and church engagement in their communities. The pastors talked about the work that their congregations are doing locally and many voiced the need for more resources and support for their mission committees and the…
The love it held
When we pulled up the steep driveway of my grandparents’ old house, I was overcome with tears of nostalgia and tears of loss for the love that this space once held. My beloved Oma and Opa had spent 35 years of retirement in this mountainside home. All of my life I’ve known them here, and…
Can we talk about MAID?
In June 2016, the government of Canada enacted legislation that enabled eligible adults to seek medical assistance in dying (MAID). At the time, I followed some of the debate with many questions and a mixture of hope and dread. My questions included the incongruity of lodging the matter with healthcare professionals, who are committed to…
Sharing life with your tribe
In 2013, I embarked on an ancestral pilgrimage to Scotland. The first site I visited was Lochmaben Castle, where, according to my Aunt Faye’s genealogical research, one of our ancestors was born. Lochmaben Castle was a major defensive stronghold for both the Scottish and the English through the 13th to 17th centuries. Possession of the…
Bergey
Why do you travel? For fun, to learn, to connect? All three combined for Dorothy, Lorna and Gertrude Bergey as they joined a Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario bus tour to Pennsylvania in May 1983. Here, they stand in front of the Pennsylvania home of European emigrant Hans Ulrich Bergey in Salford. In 1897, Pennsylvanian…
‘Passing quilt’ gives dignity in death
Death is a frequent visitor at Menno Place, B.C.’s largest senior care facility. Until a couple of years ago, though, deceased residents were removed as quickly as possible on a funeral home gurney, wrapped in a nondescript covering and seen by as few people as possible. But thanks to a group of dedicated quilters, those…
