Who's getting it?

Upon my returning from my week away, my (snail)-mailbox was full to overflowing. In it was my regular copy of The Mennonite. In it was an article about the "secrets of the Kingdom". Using Mark 4:11, the writer, Bert Newton, looked at how well we know the secrets, and how well we are share those secrets with the rest of the world. He used a striking example of it, which I would like to share with you.

Comedy Central's The Daily Show, one of the most popular shows on television, parodies daily news shows, has its own anchor, Jon Stewart, its reporters out in the field and its commentators. Each week it also has a religion segment called "This Week in God."
Once Steven Colbert, the host of the segment, showed actual news footage of a televangelist expressing his support for the president's war on terrorism. The televangelist said, "We've got to kill the terrorists before the killing stops. I support the president. We need to chase them all over the world, for 10 years, if it takes that long. We need to blow them up in the name of the Lord." At that point, the camera switched back to Colbert, who said, "And in a related story, Jesus has quit."
As an evangelical Christian, what I found interesting about that segment was the response of the secular studio audience. They laughed and clapped robustly. I thought, We evangelical, Anabaptist Christians struggle with much of the rest of the church over whether Jesus is about peace--we spend time working out a theology of peace--and for this secular studio audience there is no struggle at all. They don't have to work out anything. They just assume Jesus is about peace. They assume Jesus would not agree with the televangelist, would not support the president's war on terrorism or talk about blowing people up in the name of the Lord. They get it.

I have struggled with some similar questions about how much theological weight to give to the questions of unbelievers. The viewpoints of "I have the Holy Spirit, they don't" or "I've studied the Bible and they haven't" have their place, but those places aren't good places to have dialogue. Guys I play baseball with have critiques against the church and some very specific church figure heads. Are their complaints valid because they are based on legitimate feelings and actual events, or are they invalid because those scenarios aren't being viewed through a Biblical filter? What made me take non-Christians' perspectives more seriously was other Christians not taking me seriously enough because I don't support war, I don't like the King James, I am irritated by a lot of 'Christian' media and its subculture, or because I think some 'theological' issues are irrelevant (ie. creation/evolution, free will/predestination). I'm not one to cater to the masses, but if 'they' get it, and 'we' don't, where is the disconnect? Has our legacy of theological study and debate crippled our senses? Are we so good at knowing sound doctrine that we have forgotten how to do sound doctrine?

Looking for gospel truth in popular opinion will not be a very fruitful endeavour. I talk to non-believers who applaud my church's peace position. I talk to others who expect the church support the war because certain government leaders are also Christian. I talk to non-Christians who expect the church, by definition, to show compassion to homosexuals. I talk to people on the fringes of religious circles who expect the church, based on key biblical passages to fully oppose homosexual lifestyle. Which one of them gets it? Which group has hidden truth that I should seek out? It turns out that in their principled opinions, when they expect the church to back them up, the church is as divided as mainstream society.

   [ posted by William @ 1:00 PM ]

Safety on the Streets
I'll be using this blog to recount some stories and thoughts from the recent Mennonite Church Canada and USA bi-annual convention that I attended with my youth group in Charlotte, North Carolina.

As part of our registration package was a booklet outlining our schedule, session and seminar information, maps etc. It also included a few guidelines for a great convention experience. The dress code included restrictions on spaghetti straps and two piece swimsuits. The girls in my group are generally on the modest side and even they had trouble adapting their wardrobe accordingly. I, and other sponsors in similar situations, had no trouble relaxing these conditions. The guidelines also included various points about respecting other people as far as behaviour in the hotels and in the city in general.

What caught my eye the most was the list of street safety guidelines. Charlotte has a curfew of 11pm for anyone under 16 years old, which I didn' know was common practice or even truly enforceable. There were some points about not looking like an obvious tourist, and thus not looking too vulnerable, and about traveling in groups which I thought was relevant and helpful. One point however that drew a raised eyebrow from me was the following quote.

In cities, people don't normally look each other in the eye. Such direct contact is often used for illicit purposes.

Are there cases of people unknowingly involving themselves is illicit activity simply by giving a friendly eye to eye greeting? Maybe I don't know enough of those stories, but it seemed to me like unnecessary fear mongering. I'm quite sure that someone soliciting prostitution, selling drugs, or engaging in whatever else kind of illicit activity can tell the difference between someone being friendly and a potential buyer. Sure, people in cities don't make a lot of eye contact, but that doesn't mean I should avoid it myself. I refuse to travel to a place and completely disengage myself from the people living there in the name of safety.

As a young adult male, I know that I have less to worry about as far as safety concerns, and I had no problem walking the streets after 10pm for curiosity sake. I made eye contact as I normally would. A few times it invited panhandling, a few times it even invited a smile as a response, but it never invited any kind of illicit activity. That's one safety suggestion that I was more than glad to disregard.

   [ posted by William @ 3:07 PM ]

From Charlotte, North Carolina
I am spending this week in Charlotte, as a part of a binational conference. I have a few minutes, so I thought I would share some thoughts.

Politics - Nobody here is really talking about it, but this is the year that we were supposed to meet in Toronto, but because of resistance from various American groups, we are meeting in Charlotte this year instead. At the time, Canadians felt very snubbed, but either those people aren't here, or the sentiment has faded.

Division - I hate the mixed voices I'm hearing. Some people love the Spirit filled and lively worship, some people are suspicious and uncomfortable with having too many evangelicals amongst us and running the event. Some people are so excited to be around so many Mennonites, but I, at least, am very annoyed at the disconnect between what is being preached and sung in the worship hall and the behaviours and attitudes I am seeing in lines, on busses and in the streets from the very obvious other members of our group.

Disorganization - The average waiting time for food is around 20 minutes. It takes 10 minutes to get into the worship hall because of the long lines and the limited access to escalators. The regular shuttle service to and from my hotel is irregular at best. The credit card information I included on my hotel room reservation wasn't communicated to the hotel, which led to a number of unnecessary calls, a lot of unnecessary panic, and a lot of wasted time. Given the earlier political discussion, I gladly blame all my problems on the Americans, which is a very typical Canadian sentiment.

Otherwise we are having a great time, and the large majority of the people here are courteous and friendly. The sessions and worship times are very informative and meaningful. When I have more time, I'll write more about it in here.

   [ posted by William @ 6:52 PM ]

A bit of an update....

So...I kinda dropped off the face of the blog world for a while, as I found myself immersed in the world of wedding planning, and full-time school and part-time school work and writing a musical (bad punctuation intended).

1. Wedding planning
Things are actually going quite smoothly, and not as "hair-pulling-out-stressful" as some people warned us it would be. I guess the fact that we both want a simple, yet meaningful, wedding is helpful, as well as being willing to make compromises and sometimes sacrifices. I have learned a lot about how to work a marriage through this wedding planning, and for that I am thankful. I have also done my best to not be a "bridezilla", and I think I have accomplished that (although Will may have another version)

2. Prison Visit
A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to be a part of a 3-day Alternatives to Violence workshop at Grand Valley Institute for Women, where I participated along with 12 other inmates in the activities and discussion. For those of you that don't know, I am interested in going into prison ministry someday, so that was an excellent experience for me. I met some wonderful women (some of which I think don't belong there) and learned a lot about the prison system, through the eyes of inmates. There were many touching moments, but I will just share a few:

-when one woman cried in thankfulness that visitors take the time to come and be with them, to show that not everyone has forgotten about them and written them off as evil hardened criminals
-when one woman took the time to explain the hardships of prison life, trusting me with personal information
-Being there when a woman's grandson died, to see the shared mourning in that loss, to see that when a tragedy occurs, all the women feel it as if it happened to them, because it could have happened to them
-Seeing the women dumping buckets of water on each other in the courtyard, on one of the hottest June days
-Being reminded of how easy my life is: going from a feeling that I have no place working with criminals because I've never lived a life of hardship like them, to being reminded that all I need is a heart for it, a listening ear, arms to embrace, words to encourage, and a prayer to share (if requested)

3. Berry Picking and Jam Making
Will and I went strawberry picking on Canada Day, and then made strawberry and strawberry/rhubarb jam together. Another experience of working together (along with musical writing, sermon preaching, babysitting, supper preparation, wedding planning etc) that reminded me that Will is the best life partner I could have found for myself (sorry for the unexpected cheeziness...but it's true)

4. Odds n' Ends
Just been thinking about how crazy my life has become! Within a 4 month period from now, I'll have given my cats away, I'll be married, moved to Tavistock, looking for full-time work in the Tavistock/Stratford area, looking into a long-term MCC placement, finishing up our musical and looking for actors and a theatre to put it on in! There is no amount of exclamation marks I could use to express this craziness and excitement(and there's a limit to exclamation mark usefulness, anyway)

That's all for now. Aside from all these things, I'm still in school full-time, and I have some homework that beckons.

   [ posted by Anabee @ 10:36 PM ]

Fun, fun, fun
Ana and I tried hard to carefully orchestrate the proper time and method to tell people about our engagement. Telling our families went well. I went home to my parents' place that day anyway to do some work on my car, and during supper, we made the announcement, to the pleasant surprise of everyone gathered. Ana had made an appointment for the two of us to drop in to visit various of her family members, so they knew what was coming. For the next few days, we started slowly telling select people, and then the following Sunday, I announced it at my church.

It was no secret to me that the majority of the congregation was fond of her and supportive of our relationship. Given my public position, we accepted that ours is a public relationship. I was cautious telling anyone at the church that we were dating at first, because being public intensifies what is happening in the relationship. If things went bad, it would really complicate things. Given Ana's great personality and singing voice, she was an instant hit, and lately people had been wondering about how long it would be until we were engaged. When I announced from the pulpit that I "proposed", there was a lot of very vocal support (I wish they'd clap and cheer like that for my sermons).

What's really struck me is the recurring comments that I get. I had no idea how happy this announcement would make people. There have been a few family break-ups in the area lately, which really affects local family networks, so hearing good family news is always extra welcome. In talking to people since the announcement, I have been overwhelmed with the advice and the support people have given us. Comments that are heartwarming and reassuring at the same time. People whose conversations, while genuine, were based only on topics that were formulaic suddenly revealed a personal depth and a loving touch I wasn't sure was there. Here are some excerpts:

"If your marriage is anything like ours, you'll have a lot of fun. Enjoy the ride." (We heard this sentiment from couples ranging from newlyweds to those having celebrated their 50th anniversary)

"I knew it wouldn't take too long with you spending time with that pretty lady before you wanted to marry her ... Just make sure you tell her every once in a while that you love her."

"If someone had told me on my wedding day that we'd be together for fifty years, I'd have thought they were crazy, but here we are. I guess time flies when you're having fun."

"Now we're going to be related." (Not all that touching I admit, but pretty common in a Mennonite church. Turns out that Ana's grandmother is a cousin to the late husband of a woman from my church)

"I can just tell you guys are going to be happy together."

   [ posted by William @ 12:36 AM ]