Bethlehem experiences
‘How you experience holy is different than you expect it to be.’ -Rev. Carrie Ballenger Smith After a year of travel, seeking faith and justice on four continents, there are lessons that I am still unpacking. Between the busy schedules of church, master’s thesis work, travel and work with the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF),…
Mary and Maryam
These are times of uncertainty and hatred, when our political and social discourses are marred by xenophobic, Islamophobic, and just plain racist rhetoric. (Remember the niqab debate during our Canadian election? the calls to turn Syrian refugees away simply if they’re Muslim? the sinister tone of Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim comments in the U.S.?) In light…
Mennonites ‘wage peace’ on Remembrance Day
A Mennonite church is not a typical venue for a Remembrance Day service, but on Nov. 11, 2015, members of several Mennonite Church Saskatchewan congregations came together at Osler Mennonite Church to pay tribute to those whose lives have been turned upside down by war. Pastor Patty Friesen led the time of worship, which included…
Revelations of stones: Reflections on Palm Sunday scriptures
Luke 19: 28-44 Verse 40: “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (NIV) I wish you a happy celebration of this Holy Week, and most recently, happy Palm Sunday! Since yesterday I’ve been pondering the Luke 19: 28-44 passage that was presented at church. It speaks of Jesus entering the…
Marching for justice
In his famous address at 1984 Mennonite World Conference, in Strasbourg, France, Ron Sider described shalom as “being in right relationship with God, neighbor and the earth.” Shalom, he said, “means not only the absence of war, but also a land flowing with milk and honey. It includes just economic relationships with the neighbor. It…
Rethinking peace
“In the last 15 or 20 years, I have heard only one sermon on peace,” says Bernie Loeppky, a member of Grace Mennonite Church in Winkler, Man., and a member of the Evangelical Anabaptist Fellowship (EAF). Loeppky retells the story of Siegfried Bartel, who grew up in the Mennonite church in Germany between the World…
A Thought on Cross-cultural Learning and Faith
What does cross-cultural learning have to do with our faith? I believe it’s at the heart of the good news that Jesus taught and lived: Reconciliation with God and reconciliation with each other. These are not mutual exclusive concepts. When we reconcile with each other, we have a more full sense of who God is…
At the Table
Pastor Ishiya met us at Fudoin station and we drove the ten minutes up the hills, through the back streets, until we arrived at a traditional Japanese house – Hiroshima Mennonite Church. Although only 9:15am, the sun was hot and bright on our necks, and with relief we stepped inside the cool building. Fans blew…
Akido and The Jesus Way
Akido is sometimes described as a nonviolent martial art. At the Northeast Asia Regional Peacebuilding Institute in Hiroshima, Japan, I had the privilege of learning a bit from a Japanese Mennonite professor and akido practitioner. I remember a few key points that seemed a fitting metaphor for following Jesus’ nonviolent way. Our sensei (teacher) talked about…
Legacies of Hiroshima
It’s hard to hear the stories. The images are sickening. My imagination cannot grasp the kind of suffering the people of Hiroshima endured and even survived. My faith in humanity shakes when thinking of what humans did to each other and to creation. I heard these stories first 10 years ago with a visit to…
