Values that set us apart
A reader of this magazine thinks we have got our name backwards. He thinks the name should be Mennonite Canadian. “You are Canadian,” he says emphatically. “You think you are different from other Canadians because you call yourselves Mennonite, but you are not.” The man raises an interesting question. In what ways are we Mennonites…
Meeting on the common ground of God’s love
Do Mennonites believe there is something intrinsically, inherently important about our denominational institutions? If you think not, then you can skip this article and pick up another article instead. I believe that there is something important here—within the pages of Canadian Mennonite, within Mennonite schools, our sending bodies, and our relief and development agencies. I…
Readers write: September 13, 2021 issue
Nonviolence is the greatest ideal and goal Re: “Finding a balance between pacifism and reality” letter, Aug. 16, page 8. Like the letter writer, for much of my life I found nonviolence and pacifism a wonderful ideal to aspire to, even as I struggled with its apparent impracticality. Yet, over the past decade, I’ve become…
Take a breath before the plunge
Winston Churchill, Great Britain’s Second-World-War-era prime minister, famously said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” Or maybe it was Rahm Emanuel, former White House chief of staff and mayor of Chicago. The internet is unsure. Regardless, the phrase is both problematic and insightful. There is no such thing as a “good crisis,” especially…
Doris Moyer
David Hunsberger’s photos are normally more well-composed. But it appears he saw the expression of expectation and joy on the face of music teacher Doris Moyer and he couldn’t wait to capture it. She grew up in Pennsylvania and taught at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate in Kitchener, Ont., in 1954, when this photo was taken. With…
The pack of smokes on my mantel
On my mantel stands a pack of smokes. It’s in a place of honour. It’s probably been 50 years since I last purchased cigarettes for my own use. It’s a phase that came and went quickly. I’m good with that. A week ago, I attended a gathering at Stoney Knoll, a short distance northwest of Laird,…
What is enough?
“Who says they have enough money? We’ve never heard such a thing!” blurted the students at a Christian college at which I used to teach. I had just told them that I was going on an international human-rights delegation. After asking about funding, they vocalized their surprise that I was paying my own expenses. “I…
Making it personal
Occasionally, if my wife Rebecca doesn’t get home when I was expecting her, my mind will become morbidly creative. I mustn’t be the only one who has “daymares” of their spouse dying in a car accident. Selfishly, I must admit I spend less time focusing on the details of the accident and more time on…
Coming from a place of love
One by one, they slipped inside the large tent, out of the drizzle. They came from far and near to hear stories, share a meal, play games and enjoy each other’s company. On Aug. 24, the Young Chippewayan First Nation welcomed Mennonites and Lutherans from Laird and the surrounding area to a gathering of friendship…
