Obligatorily Passionate
With apologies to Mark Alward, I thought I would reflect on the hype surrounding Mel Gibson's Passion movie. I fully intend to see it, although I will choose carefully the people that I see it with. Today, in my bird class (How easy is it? Today's movie was about corruption in the NCAA) a group of guys sitting behind me were discussing having seen the movie the night before. They didn't come across as fundamental, evangelical Christians, so I was interested to hear, or at least over hear, their perspective of it. None commented on whether they liked it or not, although none of them complained about it.
The key moment in my eyes came when one of them threw something at the other, to which he responded, "Hey, didn't Jesus teach you anything last night?" To take that as anything more than an off-hand comment would be foolish, however, it is indicative of a deeper understanding. He was mocking the expectation to have been converted by watching it, or even to have learned something from it. None of them were offended at the attempt to convert, and nothing they said implied that it was anything less than adequately entertaining. That was certainly a good review given the surroundings (I call it my jock class because of the company I'm in during lectures).
Another church friend of mine said to me today that he won't watch it, not wanting to expose himself to that much violence. I sympathize with him, but I reluctantly told him that I am a product of my generation, and have been largely desensitized to that kind of violence. But anyway, I'll watch it, and share my review with all of you.

   [ posted by William @ 4:55 PM ]

My New Amish Friends
So this past weekend I was in Aylmer for a bit playing Uncle Will. Good times as always. One thing that I had wanted to do for a while was visit Pathway Publishers, an Amish printing house and bookstore. I've wanted to visit it for quite a while, but I'm almost never in Aylmer during business hours during the week.
My main reason for visiting, was to talk to the owner, who is an avid Mennonite historian, and has wanted to talk to me about the play I wrote quite a while ago. He wasn't in when I got there, so I thought I'd look around and see what the store carried. They have a lot of home schooling stuff, and lots of family bible study type stuff, none of which was interesting to me. The section that fascinated me was the one with the Bibles, commentaries etc. While I didn't have use for a parallel Greek-English (King James) Bible, I might later. I saw a German copy of the Martyr's Mirror for 29.50, which peaked my interest. An English copy in Waterloo, runs for $65. Of course none of my worldly plastic methods of payment were accepted at this store, so I could only use the slightly more than $20 that I had with me. I then saw the Complete Writings of Menno Simons. I first leafed through it to see how good a quality it was. It had everything that I was looking for, so I braced myself and looked at the price label. A slightly different version of this book sells for over $90 in Waterloo at either Mennonite book store. The price, written in pencil on the inside cover, a regular price, not a sale price, was 19.50. I don't know how they can print it for that much cheaper, and you know what, I don't care. I bought the book, and I will return, when I have enough money for a Martyr's Mirror, which is 32.50 for the English.

   [ posted by William @ 10:04 PM ]

Upon Closer Inspection
So, a few days after preaching my first sermon, I got to hear my first sermon. Tavistock tapes their sermons, for the benefit of those that miss occasional Sundays, or are unable to make it to church for various health issues. I thought it would be helpful to evaluate myself by listening to the tape as well. I cringed at every stumbling of words, and laughed through the embarrassment of what was the children's story. The scary part however, was listening to my jokes. Sure people laughed, and sure I thought they were funny, but hearing myself tell them was very, very odd. I realized that I have a terrible joke delivery. Never have I heard such a dry, emotionless attempt at comedy, and this is what I once thought was the bread and butter of my comedic repertoire. No inflection, no intonations, nothing to imply that the statement was intended to be funny.
While I struggled over the awkwardness of what I perceived for that Sunday, it struck me, I've been telling jokes like this all my life. For some reason, people have always been able to look past this, and laugh. I would then like to take a moment to thank all those who have laughed at my jokes in the past, despite, what has now become apparent to me, a dry, dry, delivery. While I have now made this realization, I fully realize the inability to teach this proverbial old dog new proverbial tricks, but still there are points to ponder. It is now easier to understand why my jokes aren't always laughed at, especially by people that don't know me. Certainly an audio cassette doesn't convey the twinkle in my eye that is the charm of William Loewen, but now that I know how I sound, I can adjust to make myself a more effective speaker.
Speed is another factor. The other pastor head suggested that for her, a 2800 word sermon would take 23 minutes. With mine needing to be between 20-25 minutes, I polished mine off in 2900 words. After taping the recorded sermon today, I realized that it was only 15 minutes. I can slow down, at least I certainly need to.
I will make known when my next sermon is, and hopefully by then I'll be able to implement some of these changes.

   [ posted by William @ 4:00 PM ]

I think I'm entitled
The stage is set, Colonel Nathan R. Jessop, played by Jack Nicholson, walks into the courtroom, in full military garb. We hate him, of course he ordered the Code Red, of course the blood of private William Santiago is on his hands. Through a mono-y-mono stare down between him and Tom Cruise, we see that the idea of truth in the eyes of the lawyer and the court are out of synch with the truth in the eyes of the military commander. In the end, in an emotionally charged, perfectly scripted finish, he admits to ordering the Code Red, questioning the worth of court and lawyers who administer it's justice. In the end, he is arrested, and Tom is the hero.
But wait. Isn't the colonel right? Wasn't he defending his country, and the world, and isn't Tom just a weasel who's only military understanding comes from a textbook? So which is the real US military, the one with a just and stable legal system, or the one that gets the job done regardless of system?
Recently (at least it's recent in my mind, although it's probably been happening through the span of it's existence) there has been a growing clash between those that support the US military and all it's government mandated operations, and those that feel otherwise. With Nathan R. Jessop, the supporters of the US military (as well as other nations, but it's always about the US right?) say to us "you sleep at night because of the safety I provide and then question the means by which I provide it." With Tom Cruise, we who oppose them say, "We want the truth!" Of course, we all want the truth. The problem is that we always think that we have it, or at least that we are the closest to it. I know I feel that way.
So is it better to claim that the truth is given to you by the Mennonite church, or to claim that truth is being acted out by the US military? Of course I think the former, not only do I receive teaching at the hands of the Mennonite Church, but as a paid minister, I also dispense it at the hands of the church. The important thing these days is not to accept blindly what's given to us. Let's look deeper folks, all of us. You can handle it.

   [ posted by William @ 11:52 PM ]

Sermon #1
This has been a bit of a hectic week, so I haven't been able to update as often as I'd like.
Just thought I'd let everyone know that I am preaching tomorrow at my church in Tavistock, and all are welcome to come and listen. I could have given more notice, but I don't want it to be too packed out. Service starts at 10, and get ahold of me if you want/need directions.

   [ posted by William @ 12:39 PM ]

Only the Lonely
I did something the other day that reminded me that I really am lonely. Within us all there lies a dependency on companionship, that often lies hidden until our bodies subconsciously reveal them to us. I'm not proud of it, but a little while ago, I went to my local Zehr's grocery store and ordered the chicken and potato wedges snack pack. I was hungry and thought that I could handle the grease and the mess it would leave on my hands and in my stomach. A few minutes later, with only roughly half the meal ingested, I was throwing wedges out the window hoping to feed some wayward crow. I have sworn a million times before to stay away from this lethal combination of potato and chicken, but I fell again. It struck me as I drove down Huron Road, hoping that my discarded half-eaten chicken breast could perhaps provide more nourishment to a wandering red fox or even some domesticated canine, than they did to me, that this lapse in good sense could have been avoided. I realize my own weakness to forget things, even things I vowed to never forget. That is why I need my own personal companion, even if she only serves the purpose of making sure that I don't touch that forsaken chicken combo again. So the next time your companion nags you about something, think about me, my greasy fingers, and my considerably less than satisfied stomach, and thank the Lord for your own personal forsaken chicken combo avoider.

   [ posted by William @ 6:11 PM ]

Pastoral Resignations
Many of you have known for a little while that I recently accepted a position as a youth pastor. Leading up to that point, and since then, many people have encouraged me in this venture saying that it was right up my alley. People told me that knowing me and how I deal with various situations, it was only natural that I could end up as a pastor. As complimentary as that is, and I truly appreciate each compliment like that I heard, it seems to imply something I'm not crazy about. I'm not comfortable with this seemingly catholic notion that those people that are "religious" and adhering to fairly tight moral codes are natural people for the ministry. I personally don't see myself as outgoing, approachable, or particularly well spoken, characteristics that make the ministry a more natural fit for people on top of their religious convictions.
I say it's a catholic notion because the teaching of "priesthood of all believers" is one of the original notions of Protestantism and my own particular Mennonite/Anabaptist tradition. I had always hoped that my particular lifestyle was compatible in the outside world, and every time I hear those compliments, part of me interprets that as saying that my lifestyle is not compatible with any other world. Of course I realize that I am too analytical, and I am really bad at accepting compliments, but we all read implications into other people's words.
People, especially the youth who fall under my responsibility have higher expectations on me now. I've heard things like, "You're a pastor, you have to say that." I want to respond with, "No, that's the right answer to the question, it doesn't matter that I'm a pastor." Am I now expected to give the morally correct answer while everyone else is allowed not to? I hope not.

   [ posted by William @ 9:31 PM ]

Smaller Vocabularies
Often, intelligence and large vocabularies go hand-in-hand. This was certainly something that I strove for as a youth, and something that was accused of me as well. Those people who told me I used big words too often, were really paying me a compliment. A few things have happened to me since then, and now I often treasure the value of a smaller vocabulary. At home, if my brother would ever hear me say a word that he didn't understand, he would ask what it meant. So, I would give him another word that meant essentially the same thing. Then, every time, he would say, "then why didn't you just say that?" While I still crave learning for myself and encourage it for others, I firmly believe that an educated person should be better able to communicate with people than had he not been educated. Sure every word has it's unique meaning, but many are unnecessary, and many have definitions that are hardly agreed upon.
This came to my mind when I was discussing with a friend our mutual upbringing. He suggested that looking back now, with his newly informed point of view that it seemed almost cultic to him now. I didn't respond to that point, thus changing the topic, only because the word "cult" is no longer part of my vocabulary. "Cults" are so loosely defined that I cannot find a suitable definition for myself, let alone one that would be universally agreed upon in a discussion. Cults are often defined as people with weird beliefs, fringe religions, brain-washers, being focused on one "leader", etc. All of these titles alone are insufficient, and together rule too many out. As well, most of these titles could very easily be applied to various wings of the Christian church, including my own. I don't know what a cult is, so I don't use the word (unless I'm talking about how I don't know what it is).

   [ posted by William @ 10:58 PM ]