A recipe to reverse the economy
The Mennonite more-with-less ethic is something I have always connected with. Shopping for clothes at the thrift store, commuting by bicycle and eating simple, tasty food are practices that have defined my life in the Mennonite community. These values ultimately steered me toward work in environmental policy, and today I work at one of the largest…
In praise of restraint
I have too much stuff and it’s not good for my soul. But let’s barge through whatever guilt we may lug around about material excess and look deeper. At a winter meeting of the More-with-Less Revival group I’m part of, one person said she could feel the “less” but not the “more.” Another person echoed…
Hillsboro Resolution
In 1974, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) approved a resolution that encouraged each Mennonite household in North America to “examine its lifestyle” and adopt a goal to “reduce consumption and expenditures by 10 percent.” It came to be known as the Hillsboro Resolution, as the meeting in question took place in Hillsboro, Kansas. Five years after…
Buy Nothing Day
Did you know that Thursday, November 27 was American Thanksgiving? You might not, since this holiday seems to have faded into the shadows of the sinister Black Friday—which is today. I don’t really understand the history of Black Friday, and I’m too scared to google it, but as far as I know, it’s a day…
Free our kids
The other day I was enjoying a night out sans children. However, even if children aren’t physically present, they are still always in our hearts, on our minds, and still dominating the conversation. Honestly, I don’t even know what I talked about before children. Perhaps world events. Probably not. Anyway, there we were talking about…
Resisting the pursuit of more
I really like our new phone. It’s a cream-coloured touch-tone, the kind with the handset that rests on a cradle. When I use it I have to stay in one room, and I can’t walk too far in any direction, so I usually sit and play with the white cord while I talk and listen.…
A “Black Friday” Cultural Experience
I had an interesting cultural experience last week. Visiting friends for the U.S. thanksgiving holiday, we were invited to accompany them on a late night / early morning shopping adventure, also known to many as “Black Friday.” Although this is the third U.S. thanksgiving season I have experienced living in Virginia, and the third “Black…
