The Olympic Games came and went, and Canada won hockey gold again. I intended to get up early to watch the men’s final game. On the Pacific coast that meant 4 a.m., and thanks to our new baby girl, who cried me awake, I was up. I sat in my comfy chair and promptly fell asleep before the puck dropped. I woke up to see medals being placed around the necks of the Canadian guys. They were gold.
I’ve never been to a Mennonite church conference before. I’m a little late. I find my name tag on the table, hook it onto the lanyard provided. I’m welcomed by Janette, the administrator I talked to about childcare before registering. She tells me to sit anywhere. I choose a table near the back.
We have an important opportunity before us as men. For decades now, women both in secular and Christian circles have been in dialogue and have raised their voices strongly to challenge traditional definitions of femininity, prescribed female roles and violence against women.
I’ve always liked the saying, “My house may not be clean, but my kids are happy.”
I took that to heart when my kids were young and I spent a lot of time with them. I’m not sure what my excuse is now. “My house may not be clean, but I’ve read a lot of books,” or, “My house may not be clean, but I’ve watched all the shows I recorded on the PVR.”
Andrew Epp
Sitting on the beach, swimming and building sandcastles all seem like a dream right now as I look out my window at the deep snow banks. Our three children, ranging in age from 2 to 6, are dreaming about summer camp, playing in the sun and bicycling with friends. There’s nothing like a relaxing week with happy kids, good friends and a beautiful spot in nature.
A few years ago, a Mennonite church offered a Lenten worship series on the Seven Deadly Sins. For each of the six Sundays of Lent, the preacher’s sermon focused on one of the traditional offences, like pride or wrath or envy. Given that there were more sins than Sundays, sloth was eliminated from the list.
Dan Dyck
“Let’s make this go viral!”
I’ve heard this phrase too many times in my work as communications director at Mennonite Church Canada, usually from dear colleagues who dream of their particular message captivating a mass audience.
Troy Watson
Over the past few years, I’ve been inundated with stories, statistics, articles, books and documentaries chronicling the mass exodus of people leaving the church.
Filipino artist Neil Manalo captures the pervasiveness of violence in his painting of children waving toy guns and sticks as they watch violence on television. The painting is on display at the Pinto Art Gallery in Antipolo City, east of Manila.
The Barkman family, from left: Cody, Darnell, Christina and Makai.
As followers of Jesus, Darnell and I want our sons Cody and Makai to grow up without violent toys and video games. While that can be a challenge in many cultures, it is particularly tough in the Philippines, where violent conflict has been ongoing for decades.
Is the paraclete always comforting?
Re: “Spiritual attunement: Part 4 of a series,” Jan. 6, page 16.
I enjoyed Troy Watson’s recent column. The image of being pickled in the Spirit is a great one.
One of my favourite things is rediscovering things: a movie I haven’t seen in a couple years, or putting my iTunes on shuffle and letting it find some forgotten classics.
It shows up in the smallest of ways. Send out an e-vite or ask people to confirm their attendance and you’ll see proof that we are part of the Dithering Age.
I’ve heard of borscht, but I can’t really say that I’ve eaten it. And only very recently had I come across the word zwieback. I needed to Google that one. I would hazard a guess that I would receive perplexed looks if I were to ask the people in my church if they could identify these two items.
Amid the medal counts, terror threats and Norwegian curling flare lies the notion that the Olympics make the world a better place.
The goal of “Olympism”—yes, it’s a real word—says the Olympic Charter, is to “contribute to building a peaceful and better world.” Who could argue?
Mennonite Church Canada is encouraging its constituent congregations to engage the topic of sexual orientation in the hope that a consensus can be reached in the future. I commend the national church leadership for that. Sargent Avenue Mennonite Church in Winnipeg is engaging this challenging issue as well.
Troy Watson
There is no one-size-fits-all formula for attuning oneself to the Holy Spirit. We are all wired differently. This means we will often have to take different approaches to spiritual growth and engage in different spiritual practices than our fellow believers. This is a difficult thing to do, to go against the grain and norms of one’s church, but it is completely necessary for many of us.
What makes people happier: spending money on themselves or giving to others? It might surprise many of us to learn that research done by Elizabeth W. Dunn, a social psychologist at the University of British Columbia, shows that spending money on other people may have a more positive impact on happiness. Therefore, people who live generous lives may po-tentially live happier lives.
A disturbing cartoon from childhood has stayed with me. In the cartoon, a pig—of course!—was over-eating, stuffing himself from a heavily laden table. At the very end, the pig stood up, pushed himself back from the table and, with a filled-to-bursting gut, took a few wobbly steps.
Those who survived Indian Residential Schools, Mennonite Church Canada members and South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission participants all have one thing in common.
Be careful of what the church is ‘shifting’ from
Elsie Wiebe
Liz Koop
Across Canada, generations of women have been walking together in faith. As early as 1786, when Mennonites first began arriving from Pennsylvania, up until today, Mennonite women have found a sense of belonging by sharing with and caring for each other.
I used to be the circulation and fulfillment manager for a small, independent, faith-based magazine. Ever-increasing postage rates and pressure to increase online presence were constant concerns. I regularly received e-mails from people who wanted to know if we offered digital subscriptions.
My city had a year of sorrow sadly stamped by the death of Julie Paskall on Dec. 29. It was Surrey’s 25th murder of the year. The 53-year-old mom was randomly beaten to death in an arena parking lot where she had stopped to pick up her teenage son.
Sometimes I find the relationship between church and business a little baffling. It seems that the business world is increasingly adopting Christian values and practices to run their organizations, including aspects of Christian spirituality. It appears that there is something about Christian practices that is good for business.
