Walking together at a distance
Following current physical-distance guidelines, the fifth annual Walk in the Spirit of Reconciliation was held in various parts of British Columbia over the final weekend of May. Although we walked apart, we did so in solidarity with our First Nations brothers and sisters whose families have been affected by the residential school system for many…
Because we don’t know
The eight-hour world-wide One World: Together at Home concert ended the other day with this line from an African proverb: “For tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.” I was leaving Ascension Parish yesterday afternoon after sitting in their quiet sanctuary for a little while, along with about three or four other…
Strangers become friends at college
My older sister met her best friend at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ont., in 2013. They were paired together as roommates for their first year, and lived together in their second and fourth years as well. I remember my sister coming home from school on the weekends and telling amazing stories about the…
Their stories showed me how to be brave
In the last few months with Mennonite Central Committee’s Serving and Learning Together program, I have thought often about how we all use stories to communicate. And how sometimes I have found myself wishing I could politely use a bookmark to pause someone’s story when I wasn’t that interested in it. I’ve agonized over accidentally…
‘Nobody is perfect and that’s okay’
I often get asked what draws me to work at a small private Christian school in Gretna, a small rural town in Manitoba. The answer is quite simple: because of the people. It’s not always easy, but I can always find ways to point towards God at work. Our hope at Mennonite Collegiate Institute (MCI) is…
We’re all in debt—and it’s not a bad thing
One of the terms I heard repeatedly at Gathering 2019 from June 29 to July 1 in Abbotsford, B.C. was “institutional church.” As in, “The institutional church would do things that way, but I’m different.” Or, “The institutional church is dying, but thankfully my friends and I have our own thing going.” Or, “Don’t blame…
Summer vacation
To “vacate” means to “leave a place once occupied.” In North America, summer is the time many people choose to leave home and travel somewhere else in order to rest and relax from ordinary work and home responsibilities. This summer we did our usual trip to Manitoba to visit extended family but we added 12…
Gathering 2019 is for the whole family
I have many fond memories of attending our annual national events over my lifetime, beginning in my youth at Great Treks and then as a young adult at assemblies. I remember creative and inspiring worship; animated, even heated, business meetings; and, most significantly, making personal connections with my faith community from across the country. Now we…
‘I have no say . . .’
Leah is a lifer, and I like her. She is middle-aged and is at the beginning of her sentence. She is educated and insightful, and has a good sense of humour. But what I am impressed by is her heart. She cares about the young women with whom she shares the crowded maximum-security space in…
A most excellent Christmas
I love Christmas. The tree, the lights, the music, the food, gathering with family and friends, special church services. I look forward to all of it. I still go with my siblings to the mall so that we can have our picture taken with Santa, and I’ve even dressed up as the jolly old elf a…
