On the road toward wisdom
I’ve been pondering the learning experiences of Jesus’ disciples as told in the Gospels. Jesus’ vision of God’s reign was so different from the reality they were used to, and they were curious. There was something about this Teacher that invited them to walk alongside him, to learn more. As Jesus’ companions on the road,…
The great Mwenezi cook-off
All of Joseph Gudo’s hard work was summed up in one small plate of food. He’d laboured for months in the field and uncountable hours in the kitchen all in service to this dish—a neat pile of mashed cowpeas (black-eyed peas), buoyed by a bold pinch of cayenne pepper and dressed up with pops of…
Readers write: October 11, 2021 issue
Idea of defunding the police based on false premises Re: “Defund the Police?”, Sept. 27, page 4. This response is not addressed to the generalizations made in this article (police “don’t prevent crime,” “officers spend most of their time…,” and “police are very effective at turning people into our enemies”), but to several premises in…
The banality of saying ‘Intercultural’
No one would dispute that our world has become intercultural. Culture meets culture and languages are exchanged randomly on streets, in restaurants, in classrooms and even during Sunday church worship. “Intercultural” is being used at a massive rate. But this is being done without the faintest idea of what it means to be truly intercultural.…
Grace Lao
Women at Grace Lao Mennonite Church sing at a “ladies’ revival” in 1999. This was an important year for the congregation of about 90 people, as they also dedicated their own independent church building in Kitchener, Ont. Previously, they worshipped nearby at St. Jacobs Mennonite Church. The church grew from the efforts of refugee families…
The benefits of a hamlet
Someone suggested I apply for a pastoral position in a church in a large Canadian city. My ego liked that quite a lot. Then I gave it some thought. The whimsical welding project that has mostly held me in thrall this summer is created with metal salvaged from oilfield leftovers. In my zeal to recycle…
What is learning?
Learning happens because learners do something, not because teachers teach. Education is not about teaching—it is about learning. Of course, we should value teachers! The best ones teach people how to learn. Still, learning is an ongoing process, happening inside, as the learner adapts existing understandings of the world to new experiences or information. Good…
An enemy of hope
Three years after graduating from Bible college on the prairies, I returned for a one-week complimentary alumni seminary course. I was excited to be back in the classroom again, but if I’m completely honest, I was just as, if not more, excited to return to a place that held so many good memories. We spent…
‘Whatever happened to simple living?’ – Part 2
For 45 years, the More-with-Less Cookbook has been a beacon of the Mennonite legacy of simple living. The popular, and much more recent, cookbook, Mennonite Girls Can Cook, is rooted in a decidedly more First-World spirituality. The divergent books illustrate something of the tension faced by Mennonites living in a land of plenty. Kenton Lobe…
