Readers write: November 25, 2019 issue
Planting forests versus fearing the future
Re: “Faithful practices on a dying planet,” and “Planting trees, nurturing a dream,” Sept. 30, pages 4 and 16, respectively.
Opinion
‘Where there is no vision...’
(Image by Sharon McCutcheon/Pixabay)
“Not another visioning process” was a common reaction when I presented the idea of a year of visioning and discernment at Mennonite Church Alberta’s 2018 annual delegate sessions. The restructuring of MC Canada meant a shift in responsibilities for MC Alberta, and a focus on congregations as the centre of mission.
Rosengart church
(Photo: Mennonite Heritage Archives / Lawrence Klippenstein photo collection)
Mennonites lived in Prussia/Poland for more than 400 years, but our understanding of the Mennonite experience in this area requires further study. This is the former Mennonite church at Rosengart (now Rozgart), near Elbing (now Elblag). Peter Klassen (1930-2019) has worked hard at shedding light on the Mennonite experience in Prussia.
Choosing forgiveness
(Image by mohamed Hassan/Pixabay)
In my work with single, high-risk mothers and women who experience abuse in intimate relationships, many conversations about forgiveness have arisen. I recently shared about choosing the path of forgiveness and I could instantly feel the tension rise. Their bodies shifted, their breath became short, their brows furrowed.
We belong to each other
(Image by Gerd Altmann/Pixabay)
It was Sunday morning on a Mennonite Church Canada Joint Council meeting weekend. We divided up into three groups to visit three different congregations and then we regrouped over a late pizza lunch to hear about the visits.
Unlearning ‘Christianese’
(Image by athree23/Pixabay)
“Christianese” is what some people call insider jargon Christians use to talk about God and faith. One of the primary problems with Christianese is that it doesn’t make sense to outsiders. Someone once compared it to legalese, which has its place and purpose, but is confusing and meaningless to people who aren’t lawyers.
Readers write: November 11, 2019 issue
I smile because I’m grateful
(Image by Natalia Lavrinenko/Pixabay)
There’s canola in my bed and it makes me smile.
Perhaps I should explain.
Speed sprayer
Photo credit: The Canadian Mennonite / Mennonite Archives of Ontario
Readers raised on fruit farms—including this archivist—may remember the high-pitched whine of an orchard pesticide sprayer in action. Pictured, Peter J. Sawatzky of Ruthven, Ont., is operating a “speed-sprayer” in his apple orchard.
Allow a little child to lead you
'Pay attention to a child close to you. Give thanks for holy lessons available nowhere else.' (Photo courtesy of flickr.com/Lance Shields)
My good memories of Thanksgiving 2019 will be focused on children.
Confronting a drastic future
(Image by Tumisu/Pixabay)
It’s been a month since Greta Thunberg—the 16-year-old climate activist from Sweden—came to my town for a climate rally.
Readers write: October 28, 2019 issue
(Graphic by Betty Avery)
Point:Counterpoint—Differing views on AMBS hiring
Re: “Boshart next AMBS president despite expressed concerns,” Sept. 30, page 27.
Speak Jesus
(Image by Thomas B./Pixabay)
In the mid-1960s, Peter Berger and Thomas Luckman coined the phrase “the social construction of reality.” The phrase emphasizes that the world of power and meaning is created through the careful management and manipulation of social symbols.
Bethel Bible Institute
Photo: By Rudy Regehr / Mennonite Heritage Archives
Can you help identify these three men at Bethel Bible Institute (BBI)? Is John Poettcker in the centre? The formation of Bethel in Abbotsford, B.C., was proposed in 1937 at the ministers conference of the Conference of United Mennonite Churches of B.C.
Rhythms of reconciliation
'We can forgive and trust God’s healing power to transform our broken hearts.' (Image by succo/Pixabay)
My two-year-old has developed a habit of throwing his bowl across the kitchen when he’s finished his food. Sometimes it clears the dining area and we find it in the playroom with a messy trail of porridge!
Every time I tell him not to do it, he says, “I sorry, Mommy. I won’t.”
Walking in the church
'Who is a Canadian Mennonite?' Arli Klassen asks in the first instalment of her new column, The Church Here and There. (Photo courtesy of Arli Klassen)
Who is a Canadian Mennonite?
Credible Christians
'People who are sceptical of organized religion are actively seeking out insights on Jesus and spirituality from people who aren’t overtly affiliated with the church. People like Deepak Chopra, Oprah Winfrey, Russell Brand (pictured) . . . to name a few.' (Photo courtesy of Facebook.com/RussellBrand)
“People are no longer interested in religion or church, but they are still interested in Jesus.” This is a statement many Christians, including myself on occasion, proclaim confidently.
Walking a different path
Marlene Friesen of Emmanuel Mennonite Church in Abbotsford, B.C., enjoys a sunrise view of the Dead Sea during a walking tour of the West Bank last spring. (Photo by Albert Friesen)
Out for a late afternoon hike in the desert with a Bedouin host from our camp, we happened upon their camel herd. (Photo by Albert Friesen)
Hikers pass Mar Saba, a Greek Orthodox monastery founded in AD 483 and now considered one of the oldest inhabited monasteries in the world that still maintains many of its ancient traditions. (Photo by Albert Friesen)
Many of the valleys we walked through were carpeted with wild flowers. (Photo by Albert Friesen)
One of our fellow hikers speaks with a local shepherd comparing walking sticks and hiking poles! (Photo by Albert Friesen)
When we first started telling people we were going to hike the Masar Ibrahim Trail in the West Bank, Palestine, they were incredulous.
“You’re going where? You’re doing what?”
Readers write: October 14, 2019 issue
Queer hymns cause deep concern for Ontario churchgoers
Re: “Queer hymns now online,” Aug. 19, page 35.
Just say ‘hi’
'Take courage, make eye contact, smile and be the first to give this simple greeting and then go on with your daily routine.' (Image by rawpixel/Pixabay)
We live in a fearful world. People persecute, slander, ignore, bully and oppress other people.
Helena Kruger's sewing class
Photo: Conference of Mennonites in Canada / Mennonite Pioneer Mission Photo Collection
According to CBC, Canadian households buy four times as much clothing as they did 30 years ago, and throw away 46 kilograms of clothing per year, of which 85 percent ends up in the landfill, where it creates greenhouses gases as it decomposes. We are addicted to cheap and cheaply made clothing, the report claims. Helena Kruger of Steinbach, Man., loved to teach sewing classes for many years.
A burning issue
'My leather welding gloves are quite old. But I keep them, you see, even though the left glove has a hole in the thumb...' (Image by Free-Photos/Pixabay)
In Elise Epp’s “Clothes to match your values,” she pointed out the ecological harm posed by the overuse of highly processed leather products. I immediately felt warm . . . and righteous.
Informed ethics
'Christian social scientists use the research-based tools of their trade to probe the issues of the day, then combine them with theological tools. Only together do they serve the goal of figuring out how to live so that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.' (Image by Tumisu/Pixabay)
A man saw the title of the book I was reading with my morning coffee. It was something religious-sounding, so he engaged me about faith. Eventually he asked what I did, and I said I teach at the nearby Christian university. I teach sociology. “Oh, sociology?” he said. “Then you can’t really be a Christian.”
Readers write: September 30, 2019 issue
Senior aches over ‘what the issue of LGBTQ+ has done’
Re: “Queer hymns now online,” Aug. 19, page 35.
This, as I remember it, is my second letter to Canadian Mennonite over the many years.
Where heaven and earth meet
The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is the largest building in the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China. (Image by Johannes Plenio/Pixabay)
The Temple of Heaven is one of my favourite places in China. It was the place where the emperor went several times a year to offer sacrifices and receive wisdom from the spiritual realm, in order to rule wisely. The temple, with its three-tiered, round, blue roof representing heaven, is surrounded by a square courtyard with green walls representing the earth.
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