Time has been slippery lately. These days, weeks and months of the pandemic slide together, though punctuated with dramatic moments: the loss of jobs, the deaths of loved ones, the deaths that hospital workers...
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Here is a dilemma for a church group. Do you post a “Gun-Free Zone” sign on the entrance knowing it could either make your church more safe or less safe? In the first instance, the absence of weapons...
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Our July lessons highlight Woman Wisdom’s presence beyond Proverbs and into all four Gospels. However, her feminine name changes from the Hebrew hokmah into the Greek sophia, so we can recognize her gracious...
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When leaders become unjust or blasphemous, people of conscience protest. Jesus once broke furniture at the temple when he saw merchants turning the place into a den of thieves. Whatever we make of that...
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Plummeting donations, program cutbacks, and staff layoffs — that’s the finding of a new survey of 2,630 Canadian churches and ministries about the impact of the pandemic. Sponsored by the Canadian Council...
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White Christians need to have conversations about race. Our silence and stammering in the face of white supremacy and its outcomes clouds our witness. Naming race-based privilege can feel deeply personal and...
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Summer is here and with it farmers’ annual hopes for plentiful yields of wheat, oats and other crops. The equipment to harvest those crops has improved dramatically over the years, and three Mennonite...
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Last month many communities throughout the U.S. participated in Resilience Week, hosting activities and events about building resilience in individuals and communities. Resilience is the ability to bounce back...
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It should be emphasized up front: the primary motivation was neither self-improvement nor altruistic baking for loved ones. It was fear of shortages. Along with family, I was out of the country when COVID-19...
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When I visited the West Bank in 2018, staff from a local organization that receives support from Mennonite Central Committee took us on a tour of the Jordan Valley. The valley is strategically located and...
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I finished reading Michael McRay’s book just as deep fissures were developing in the United States about whether stay-at-home orders were an appropriate measure to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 or whether...
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In Proverbs 7, Boy meets Girl. Bad mistake. It’s the wrong Girl. Dame Folly is alluring, but the Boy doesn’t recognize the danger. He “is like a bird rushing into a snare. Not knowing it will cost him...
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I realized, my first Sunday morning volunteering at the Rusk County Jail, how very unfair my life has been. My sister and I sat across from two women in bright orange suits, locked with them into a small room...
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Have you tried any tasty camel recipes? In this time of physical distancing, people are doing more experimental cooking. I have yet to try a camel roast, but I did read that carefulness is required, or the...
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“Certain conditions yield certain things.” In the setting of the Great Plains, an owner of a custom harvest crew offers this axiom in answer to writer Marie Mutsuki Mockett’s question about differences...
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While shopping last year, a white child about 4 years old pointed at me and asked his mother, “Is that a n—er?” The mother took the child’s hand, looked at me and quickly disappeared. I wasn’t...
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I don’t know how many teenage boys will read this column, but these texts are addressed to young men your age! Even though the NRSV says, “hear, my child . . .” (Prov. 1:8; 2:1), in this case the word...
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It’s all my own fault — my own fault; and yet I’m not guilty! — Stiva Oblonsky, Anna Karenina There is a well-worn trope in TV shows and movies when former lovers, old friends or estranged family...
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I was struck by the words of Pontius Pilate during Holy Week as I walked the Stations of the Cross sponsored by Renew Community in Lansdale, Pa. I had never heard his “What is truth?” question quite like...
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The question left Layton Boyd Friesen befuddled: Why were the 16th-century Anabaptists so reviled and persecuted? The answer Friesen had learned — that they lived in an age when people didn’t tolerate...
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During this time of pandemic, many Christians are turning to prayer. But what to pray? It can be especially hard for worship leaders, who wonder how to find the words that speak honestly to God on behalf of...
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When Hosea prophesied at the sunset of the northern kingdom of Israel, he cast a vision for the people’s future by recalling their past with God. It’s been all downhill since Jeroboam II: king after king...
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No, this is not the end of the world. But COVID-19 certainly is an apocalypse — an “unveiling” — as the word is understood in the Book of Revelation. The prophet John, quarantined on the island of...
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Complying with a stay-at-home order has given me lots of time to catch up on projects around the house — cleaning out landscape beds, reorganizing the garage, decluttering the office. The list is long. I...
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COVID-19 has forced federal and state governments to consider what is an essential business allowed to remain open during the pandemic. Grocery stores, gas stations and auto-repair shops are a few of the...
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