(Photo by Joseph Barrientos/Unsplash)
In my eyes, Pauline (a pseudonym) is a more faithful and mature Christian than I am. She embodies the servant-hearted love of Christ. Her life and faith inspire me.
(Photo by Alex Shute/Unsplash)
If you are a student learning early Anabaptist spirituality, Leonhard Schiemer’s treatise, Three Kinds of Grace Found in the Scriptures cannot be missed. In his short writing, he displays the profundity of the Anabaptist way of salvation which brings a transformative and comprehensive effect on new converts.
(Graphic by Betty Avery)
Alvin Baroro
Kevin Barkowsky (seated third from left) pictured in Vietnam last month. (Photo courtesy of Kevin Barkowsky)
Last month I was sleeping in my hotel in Vietnam when loud karaoke music started playing outside. The music was so loud that I thought my window was open, so I turned the lights on to check, but no, the window was closed. I put my earplugs in, put my pillow over my head and fell back to sleep.
(Photo: David L. Hunsberger / Mennonite Archives of Ontario)
Gilbert Snider stokes his wood-fed, maple-syrup evaporator in rural Waterloo County in 1954. The photographer, David L. Hunsberger, took many photos of working life in Ontario’s Waterloo Region. How much do you know about the working lives of your fellow churchgoers?
(Photo by Saad Chaudhry/Unsplash)
On Thursday mornings, I drive an hour north to the Saskatchewan Penitentiary, a federal institution in Prince Albert.
(Photo by Jack Bulmer/Unsplash)
Normally I hearken closely to the words of Jesus. But although he advises that we consider the sparrows of the field, I’d rather pay attention to chickadees.
(Photo by Md Mahdi/Unsplash)
I have so inextricably linked Psalm 22 to the words of Jesus on the cross that I don’t think I have ever really read the Psalm in its own light before.
Clockwise from bottom left, Ryan Dueck, Peter Haresnape and Cynthia Wallace joined CM staffer Aaron Epp for an online event earlier this month.
“Are we too progressive for our own good?” That was the title of an online panel discussion Canadian Mennonite hosted on March 8.
(Graphic by Betty Avery)
Convenient pacifism
(Photo by Markus Spiske/Unsplash)
A few weeks ago I sent a text to a friend who I hadn’t seen for quite some time. Although we’d been in touch several times throughout the pandemic, we were long overdue for a face-to-face visit. I had no idea that the timing of this text would set my schedule askew for the next few weeks in the way that it did.
My friend has lived through some significant life experiences.
(Photo: The Canadian Mennonite / Mennonite Archives of Ontario)
“How did the North become the North?” asks historian Gerald Friesen.
By the Second World War northern Canada was experiencing an influx of “new technology, money and people.”
(Photo by Tim Mossholder/Unsplash)
I remember a difficult church meeting at my fiancé’s congregation when I was an active participant in the young adult group. I don’t recall the topic, but I do recall that I did not speak up during the meeting, but just listened.
(Photo by Anneli Loepp Thiessen)
(Photo by Anneli Loepp Thiessen)
It’s no secret that there are gaps in our congregational song. In particular, gaps in the kinds of words we have available for moments of crisis, despair and loss. Voices Together sought to speak into this opening, and features many resources that offer new words for these moments.
(Photo by Sunder Muthukumaran/Unsplash)
Some have described history as a series of pendulum swings, oscillating from one extreme to the other, between tyranny and freedom, conservatism and liberalism, progress and tradition. It has also been said, the pendulum always swings too far, meaning when we find ourselves in one extreme, there tends to be an overcorrection that takes us too far in the other direction.
‘I refuse to be your model minority,’ tweeted actor Simu Liu, pictured here on ‘The Beaverton’ in 2019.
“I refuse to be your model minority,” Simu Liu tweeted.
Liu played Jung Kim on the award-winning Canadian sitcom, Kim’s Convenience. This drama portrays a Korean immigrant family’s life in Canada. Liu’s character is the estranged eldest son of the Kim family.
(Graphic by Betty Avery)
At first I thought cancel culture was a good idea.
The phenomenon, which emerged a handful of years ago, refers to “ending (or attempting to end) an individual’s career or prominence to hold them accountable for immoral behaviour.” That’s according to University of Cambridge psychologist Rob Henderson.
(Photos by Carol Penner)
Who wants to talk about sin? Not me, that’s for sure. Most people I know are pretty stressed out; they want good news, not something that makes them feel worse.
As I write this my autocorrect keeps changing the word “sin” to “sun.” My computer can’t even believe I want to talk about it.
(Graphic by Betty Avery)
Complexities of pacifism
Below are four responses to “Conscientious” (Jan. 30), which critiqued the Canadian government purchase of fighter jets.
(Photo by Tegan Mierle/Unsplash)
The smell of pancakes on the griddle, the roar of laughter while trying new activities, and the joyful noise of campfire singing are forever etched in my heart.
(Photo: Conrad Stoesz)
The Konferenz der Mennoniten in Canada—now Mennonite Church Canada—was formed in 1902. In 1928, the conference started publishing an official Jahrbuch (yearbook) which documented proceedings and decisions at the annual gatherings.
(Photo by Alden Jewell, Flickr)
In this new-ish year, I find myself searching out new-ish challenges.
(Photo by Claudio Schwarz/Unsplash)
The fellows at the next table were running on and on about refugees. So many false statements! I gritted my teeth as I sipped my coffee that morning. “No!” I wanted to holler, millions of refugees were not going to overrun Canada. Then the fellows changed topics. It got worse. The new topic was climate change.
(Photo by Rob Oo, Flickr)
What keeps you up at night? Do the anxieties of your day taunt you as you lay awake?
(Readers write graphic by Betty Avery)
Making God manageable
