Advent and idolatry
The first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of the Christian year, so it would be appropriate to greet each other with the recognition that a new year has begun. Advent is the most Jewish of Christian seasons. Yet we are accustomed to approaching Advent in a way that strips it of its Jewish character,…
Rituals for reconnecting as we emerge from the pandemic
Each year in the Christian worship: Theory and practice class at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, students spend a couple of weeks considering rituals. “Classic” rituals like baptism, communion, weddings and funerals, while important, don’t exhaust the need for ritual action, so students are asked to create new rituals that emerge at the intersection of a…
Just say ‘hi’
We live in a fearful world. People persecute, slander, ignore, bully and oppress other people. It can be depressing catching the news of yet another hate crime, whether it’s on the other side of the globe, the other side of the border or the other side of town. It’s difficult to know how to respond…
MEI student dies on ski trip
A school outing turned to tragedy on March 3, 2017, when a student from Mennonite Educational Institute (MEI) in Abbotsford died during a ski trip to Whistler Blackcomb ski resort. Reports said an unresponsive male was found at the bottom of Blackcomb Mountain after he was reported missing in the afternoon. The student’s name was…
Music camp nurtures faith and supportive community
Back in 2009, when I was 12 years old, I remember being crammed into the back row of a standing-room-only crowd at the final concert of the annual Ontario Mennonite Music Camp. To be honest, I don’t remember much of it, except a couple moments from the musical The Troubbable of Zerubbabel, when they knocked…
Cancer Doesn’t Grow Faith
Two weeks ago, I attended the Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay for Life event in Steinbach. As I watched my dad complete the Survivor’s Walk two and a half years after his last surgery and two years after his last treatment, I was thankful to God. Not because I believed that God saved my dad’s life.…
‘God, you are so cool’
The biggest way that camp has affected me is in my faith and my walk with the Lord. For me, this past summer he led me ever so gently with much more grace than I deserve, all because he loves me. I was sitting with a few staff on our evening off and the topic…
Receiving is important
The tale “The Christmas Guest,” as told by Johnny Cash on his album Christmas with Johnny Cash, is a fable about an old man, Conrad, who receives a message from an angel that the Lord will appear to him on Christmas Eve. Conrad readies his place, expectant for Jesus to knock at his door. But…
What are your vices?
“What are your vices?” Now there’s a conversation starter.
Seeing beauty and injustice
Since her death in 1943, Simone Weil’s philosophy has impacted dozens of writers, thinkers and theologians. T.S. Eliot named her a saint. Simone de Beauvoir envied her spirit. Now, in The Literary Afterlives of Simone Weil: Feminism, Justice, and the Challenge of Religion, Cindy Wallace examines how nine writers, including Adrienne Rich, Annie Dillard and the Mennonite…
