A freeing feeling results when we donate unneeded clutter to the local rummage sale. Old books go, making room for new ones. Useless kitchen gadgets leave, creating room for useful basics. Uncomfortable shoes...
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Aunt Grace made her first appearance years ago. She reappears at the sound of pompousness. Aunt Grace is the creation of a friend. I imagine her with grey permed hair and gaudy red lipstick. She entered the...
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Ten baby chicks arrived at our house along with a flock of childhood memories. I grew up where banties roamed the barnyard, and spring included clucky mothers with newly hatched chicks. As I put our chicks in...
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“We can’t put up the sign because it’s political.” When seeing the sign, “No matter what country you’re from, we are glad you’re our neighbor,” what do we see? Does including Spanish and Arabic...
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I was putting money in the parking meter when a young woman approached me and quietly said, “Pretend you know me.” I was puzzled. She loudly chatted about how good it was to see me. After a trio of guys...
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“Maybe they are the lucky ones.” His words surprised me. The discussion was about a local faith variety where the young women are easily spotted in their homemade dresses and coverings, while the young men...
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While unpacking my bags after returning from the Women Doing Theology Conference, I noticed a smudge on my comfortable grey sweater. Was it spilled coffee or residue from shared pain? As I cleaned out the...
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Football player Colin Kaepernick, with a cross decorating his arm and Bible verses tattooed on his chest, started a conversation by refusing to stand for the national anthem ritual. How do we speak to an...
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Images become stuck in our heads. Of course Lydia was white. And Cleopatra looked like Elizabeth Taylor. Lydia is frequently cited as the first European convert. Most children’s Bible storybooks confirm...
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Peter is hungry and goes to pray. A vision of unclean food, arranged on a heavenly tablecloth, appears. He is invited to eat. Peter, the good Jew, refuses. He is told not to “call anything profane that God...
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“Who is my neighbor?” I understand the lawyer’s need for a clear answer from Jesus. Jesus answers the question with the story of a Samaritan showing mercy to a wounded traveler. It seems easy. The person...
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“The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it.” The Bible says some unsettling things. Multiple bloodbaths clear the way for The Chosen. Smashers of babies against rocks are called blessed. The list of...
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Recently a teacher was explaining how even preschool kids know who is in and who is out. They know who they want in their block-building circle and who they don’t. Ideas of inclusion and exclusion form...
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Imagine a violent tormented sociopath transforming into a person in their right mind. Imagine pigs running and drowning in the sea. Some stories are just too strange. Certain stories ask us to wrestle with...
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An expert in political science asks Jesus about his support for Samaritan Lives Matter. Apparently, Jesus had told a story with a Samaritan hero and a couple of heartless religious leaders. Some say Jesus even...
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The Bible storybook image of this odd couple is a curiosity. Philip, the insider, dressed in drab beige, runs beside a jewel-studded chariot carrying a colorfully dressed royal Ethiopian. The educated...
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Life is complicated for Daniel. Training to become a civil servant in a foreign country is tricky. Taking classes on the wisdom and literature of the Chaldeans is confusing. Studying astrology, omens and myths...
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Ben Goossen, a scholar examining the relationship of Mennonite identity and German nationalism, said at Mennonite World Conference, “It is important to understand that playing ‘The Mennonite Game’ [and...
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With Mennonite Church USA delegates passing “Forbearance in the Midst of Differences,” some of us are encouraged. Others, who were hoping for a step toward inclusion, are disappointed. Can we find ways to...
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“Forbearance” is buzzing around in our Mennonite Church USA conversations. The dictionary defines it as “patient self-control; restraint and tolerance.” Will forbearance become more than jargon? How...
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Jokingly I told a Mennonite farmer that we should be discussing glyphosate at our denominational convention. Can a Mennonite farmer spray glyphosate, the herbicide in the common weedkiller Roundup, in light of...
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Sociologist Dalton Conley explained on NPR’s Here and Now how families become less cohesive when one sibling is significantly richer than the others. Money triggers family tensions. Siblings with more money...
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As I took down my string of Christmas cards and letters, I smiled as one friend noted the danger of a Christmas letter becoming “a list of stellar achievements accomplished by perfect people.” Ours had no...
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Visible sins bring shame. The holiday picture of pregnant Mary reminded me of an earlier time when an unwed pregnant female would stand in front of the church and publicly confess her sin. Most of us now doubt...
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“News of [great numbers of Greeks becoming believers] came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch” (Acts 11:22). Imagine sending a person on a 300-mile journey to check...
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