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…

Our weekly Peace Candle lighting includes acknowledgement of “those known as the Hopewell” among the Indigenous peoples who have “lived and labored, fought and loved” on this land.  Yesterday brought a major global acknowledgement.  UNESCO has declared Ohio’s Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, eight sites in all, a World Heritage site.  The…