Prayer is a way of being
As we seek to better understand how we attune ourselves to Divine Spirit, it’s helpful to look at how Jesus’ original disciples attuned themselves to the Holy Spirit. Acts 1 tells us how they prepared for Pentecost and reveals what they were doing that resulted in their Spirit baptism. “These [disciples] all with one mind…
‘MDS was such a big part of her life’
All was quiet on Sept. 6, at 9 a.m., as Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) volunteers in Monte Lake put down their tools and paused for a moment of silence. They were doing it in memory of Evelyn Greenwood, a long-time volunteer with MDS, who was killed in a tragic accident exactly one year earlier. They…
Redemptive Moments Pt. 2
In my last post, I wrote about feelings of inadequacy common, in my experience, among university students regarding the world’s “big issues”. I want to focus this post on another commonality I’ve noticed among my classmates and peers: mental illness. My own relationships with my friends here in university has led me to believe that…
Actually, love your enemies
A couple of years ago my sister and I had hammock party at the park with our friends. The goal of a hammock party is to set up all your hammocks close enough together that you can still hear each other without yelling. On this occasion my sister and I, or rather my sister, packed up…
A pastor’s struggle
I’m surrounded by a legion of internal voices telling me I am not the pastor I should be. I’m not enough of a leader, not caring enough, not informed enough, not clear, not decisive, not doing enough. My soul cowers at the possibility that the roaring cacophony in my head is correct. Our current moment…
Bethel moments
A story in Genesis 28 describes the patriarch Jacob stopping for the night while on a journey. His sleep includes a dream of a visit from God. In the morning, Jacob awakes and offers the profound observation, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I didn’t know it! This is none other than the…
A Rocha Manitoba worker reflects on COP26
Kari Miller is the environmental education coordinator for A Rocha Manitoba and attends Home Street Mennonite Church in Winnipeg, Man. She attended COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, from Nov. 5 to 12, 2021, as part of the Christian Climate Observers Program. I spoke with Miller about her experience at COP26, what she witnessed and what role…
Mobile app extends reach of Anabaptist prayer book
Users in 15 countries across six continents have downloaded a new free mobile app version of Take Our Moments and Our Days: An Anabaptist Prayer Book in the four weeks since its launch on Oct. 23, 2017. The app contains the entire text of both print volumes of the prayer book—Ordinary Time and Advent through…
The joy connection
In 2013 I went on a pilgrimage to Scotland to explore my family roots and the “thin places” and sacred sites in the land of my ancestors. I arrived at the Glasgow airport shortly after 8 a.m. After landing, I immediately picked up my rental car and headed to my first destination. I hadn’t been…
Redemptive Moments Pt. 1
Once again I am sitting in The Beanery, a coffee shop about two steps from my apartment, with my roommate and friend Julia, and once again we are discussing what we identify as the ‘world’s problems’. Using ideas and theories we’ve learned in sociology, english, art theory and various other classes, we’re forming and sharing…
