George J. Lapp (1879-1951) was one of those Mennonite pioneers who emerged at the turn of the 19th century and made a contribution to multiple fields throughout his life. Missions, higher education and...
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I almost drowned in the ocean once. I consider myself a strong swimmer, and that afternoon I confidently waded out from the beach and slipped under the waves. Except that those waves began to batter me as a...
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Fear gripped Alexandria, Egypt, in A.D. 260 as a pandemic pummeled the great city. Along with their neighbors, followers of Jesus endured a plague — perhaps smallpox, measles or Ebola — that some people...
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“Because of the virus.” I mulled the phrase, letting it sink in. I was taking a walk in my neighborhood, where it’s strangely quiet while the blossoms peak. At the supermarket, an intercom voice...
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The young woman on the book cover holds the trunk of a tree and looks out from its branches. Julia Butterfly Hill’s The Legacy of Luna details the two years she spent living high aloft on a platform inside a...
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During this time of pandemic, many people are worried. They see the hoarding and long lines in grocery stores and wonder if we are in danger of falling apart as a society. Yet there are also stories of hope;...
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A blessing of six grandchildren is the chance to learn again a key longing of being human: “See me.” The ache to be seen is fundamental. It shapes us from beginning to end and through everything in...
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Central America isn’t poor. In Spanish, unlike English, there are two forms of the verb “to be.” One expresses a temporary reality (“it is cold outside”), the other an enduring fact (“this is a...
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A friend asked when justice became a conspicuous topic for the worldwide church. I suggested the crises of the 20th century inspired an almost constant inquiry about justice. This occurred first in the global...
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Mennonites have long lauded rural settings as the ideal locations for faithful life and practice, nestled in the hard-working, simple- living communities away from the seductive evils of the city. It’s...
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When the miners in the collapsed Copiapó mine in Chile were finally rescued and shuttled to safety through three miles of stone on Oct. 13, 2010, Chilean president Sebastián Piñera was there to greet them....
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Parasite received much attention after it collected top awards at the Oscars last month. The film is an engrossing and fable-like story that lingers in your thoughts long after the credits play. Set in South...
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We were driving through the night in a pickup truck somewhere in the deserts of northwest Mexico. After an evening church gathering, I and several other hermanos were headed home, bumping along in the back as...
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Maybe it’s laughable for someone who’s been married three months to try to say anything at all about it yet. All the same, I know a whole lot more about marriage now than I did 91 days ago. Here are a few...
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Several words are known by their first letter. Most stand for a racially offensive term or an obscenity. The letter “F” is one of them. When you hear someone refer to the “F word,” I suggest...
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I come from a line of children without end. — J.M. Coetzee My 16-year-old daughter is getting confirmed into the Episcopal church this spring. This would be fairly unremarkable save for the fact that she was...
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Catherine has spent her professional lifetime preserving the histories of others. As an archivist, she gathers the ephemera of people’s lives, bringing order to the sometimes mysterious, sometimes disordered...
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As a child, one of the first big words I learned was prevaricator. My mom used it in reference to a person she felt couldn’t be trusted. Knowing the word prevaricator was a real plus for a...
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By 2040, there may be no Anglican Church members left in Canada. That’s the finding of a new report commissioned by the Anglican Church of Canada. The report shows the church running out of members in 20...
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The man sits as he died 2,000 years ago, in a position that looks like weeping. Surrounding him are amphorae jugs used to import wine, olive oil and fish sauce that fed the huge appetite of Rome at the center...
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Lake Titicaca, impossibly wide and deep and high above the sea, fills an immense mountain trough in the Andes along the Peru-Bolivia border. The lake is so big that it encompasses rocky islands. Strangely...
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True evangelical faith does not lie dormant. It has become all things to all people. — Menno Simons Sometime in the 1980s I came to understand myself as an evangelical. I believe there is good news to the...
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Providing food for oneself and family is a daily chore. Should you decide to complete this chore by actually cooking something, your resources are legion. Traditionally, one would reach for a cookbook or maybe...
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The issue is stark: Pollution from plastics and other waste is harming all creatures, all over the world. It is affecting human health, from residents of the wealthiest countries to children living near scrap...
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This study of two minority religious communities in northern Mexico — Old Colony Mennonites and Mormon colonists — focuses on the accommodation of these groups by Mexican governmental officials and their...
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