Opinion

Fifty years ago, in June 1973, Queen Elizabeth II visited the Waterloo region. What gift could she be given to represent the area? These two bronze figures of an Old Order couple by Waterloo artist Renie Ellis were chosen. At the time, Mennonites constituted about 10 percent of the area’s population.

In January I was tasked with providing a meditation on Anabaptist World Fellowship Sunday at a local church. As I peck out this column, that day has not yet arrived and I’m spending my time welding up a sermon.

I’m not an historian, nor a learned interpreter of our faith heritage, so I am grounded in nothing . . . but reality.

A major sociological study of American youth concluded that their understanding of faith could be called “moralistic therapeutic deism.” On page 16 of the magazine, Ryan Dueck makes a related observation about “therapeutic church” and says it’s a problem.

Feeling like a pandemic leper

I really appreciate the three articles Will Braun wrote regarding the polarization of vaccines (“The sweet solace of polarization,” Oct. 3, Oct. 17, Oct. 31, 2022).

Annual congregational meetings are just around the corner, a time when budget lines designated for regional churches are often queried. I’m reminded that many people do not have the history or know the people who stand behind the dollar figures.

In 2017, the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship awarded members of the Voices Together hymnal committee a grant to explore Mennonite worship in communities that worship primarily in languages beyond English.

When Sofia Samatar took an American literature class at Goshen (Ind.) College more than 20 years ago, she wrote a paper about Walt Whitman, who is sometimes called the “good grey poet.” Among the thousands of student papers I read, this one stands out.

Two views on ‘sweet solace’
Re: “The sweet solace of polarization” series, Oct. 3; Oct. 17; and Oct. 31.

Vern Ratzlaff, centre, worked much of his life within Mennonite institutions in western Canada and internationally, serving as a church pastor, Bible school teacher and radio preacher. From 1982 to 1987, Vern and his wife Helen served as Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) country representatives in Egypt.

Christmas is a difficult season for many people, myself included. As a Christian, I “should” be celebrating the birth of Jesus. The angels sing of “great joy” as the lowly and the mighty come to bend the knee at the crude bedside of the baby. The Incarnation is what makes Christianity profoundly different from all other religions.

Inspired by J.S. Bach and his prolific contribution to church music, Carla Klassen’s These Songs We Sing is a lovely collection of 52 short meditations and reflections on favourite hymns.

In a conversation with an educated religious scholar, Jesus agreed that the most important thing is to love God and love one’s neighbour as oneself. Then the scholar asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbour?” In typical Jesus fashion, instead of answering directly, he told a story: the parable of the Good Samaritan.