Midweek Blog: Trust the Circle 25 October 2023 “Trust the circle” was a favorite phrase of Rubén Castilla Herrera, best known to our congregation as the organizer behind Edith Espinal’s sanctuary stay in our building.  That phrase is also the name of a new book about Rubén’s life: Trust the…

Here’s a poem I’ve been sharing in a few different circles.  It’s fitting for fall, a season when change is somehow felt more deeply in the bone; for this congregation remembering the gift of an elder like Al Bauman; for times of political tumult. The image of the thread gives…

Back in June The New Yorker magazine published a weekend essay by Agnes Callard titled “The Case Against Travel,” tagline: “It turns us into the worst version of ourselves while convincing us that we’re at our best.”  It’s a well-founded critique.  Citing a classic definition of a tourist as “a…

Today is the Feast Day of Saint Francis. Mennonites don’t generally do a lot with traditional saints or feast days, but I know Saint Francis holds a special place in many of our hearts because of his connection with Creation and the natural world.  There are many different stories and…

A couple weeks ago in our Transitions and Ritual group I gave a handout that included the words “liminal space.”  It has become a common way of referring to the in between time, when something is clearly ending but the new thing has not year appeared.  An astute participant asked…