“Always be prepared
to give an answer to everyone
who asks you to give the reason
for the hope that you have.
But do this with gentleness and respect.”
I Peter 3:15

This week a reporter from the newspaper in Findlay called to ask if she could come and interview me. She had recently began the Bluffton “beat” and found out that there was a concentration of Mennonites living in the area. She said many people realize there is a large number of Mennonites but don’t really don’t know much about them. She wanted to do an informative article about who the Mennonites are and what set them apart from the other Christians.
Her first question asked about the difference between Mennonites and the Amish and reflected the common misperception that Mennonites are very similar to Amish in dress etc. Further questions got into the meat of what Mennonites believe and why. It was a delightful and respectful time of sharing who we are as Mennonites.
However, some of the questions caught me off guard. I didn’t feel I was as clear and articulate as I wanted to be on something that is very precious to me. I realized that in our society that I always need to be ready with a clear answer about our faith and why I believe what I believe.
I have recently read an excellent pamphlet by Palmer Becker on “What is an Anabaptist Christian?” (Published by Mennonite Mission Network in their Missio Dei series). He states three core values of Anabaptist Christians based on The Anabaptist Vision by Harold S Bender in 1943. The Core Values are the following:
1. Jesus is the center of our faith.
2. Community is the center of our lives.
3. Reconciliation is the center of our work.

Certainly there is much to say about each of these core values. In the back of this pamphlet is a summary of each with a two column chart which helps explain how Anabaptist Mennonite Christians are uniquely different from many other Christians. Let me give you one example. Under Core Value #1, Jesus is the center of our faith, Becker has in the first column of “Many Christians emphasize” a brief summary of what many Christians emphasize about Christ’s death.
Many Christians focus on the holiness of God and their need for justification. They emphasize the death and resurrection of Christ without a proper emphasis on the life and teachings of Jesus. Christianity is forgiveness.
Becker has this to say in the column “Anabaptist Christians emphasize”
Anabaptist Christians affirm the holiness and forgiving grace of God but also give strong emphasis to the transforming power of the words, ministry and spiritual presence of Jesus. Christianity is discipleship.

This is only one of several contrasting statements under each of the core values. I will let you get the pamphlet and study it for yourselves. The reading and rereading of pamphlets like this help me to always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks me to give the reason for the hope that I have. I look forward to see how the reporter from the Findlay paper interprets our conversation.
May God bless each of you as you live your lives of discipleship to Jesus this week.

On Sharing One's Life Story

On Sharing One’s Life Story

On Sunday evening, May 17, I will be sharing my life’s story. I’ve done this a number of times and every time it conjures up a variety of feelings both positive and negative. It is hard to believe that people are interested in my pilgrimage because in many ways it is not all that interesting. I have had a fairly normal up bringing in a fairly normal home and lived a fairly normal life. I also feel somewhat vulnerable sharing some of my weaker and lower times in life. It seems so easy to misunderstand and misinterpret the various influences that have shaped one’s unique life experience.
Yet in all this, I find it a very helpful thing to do to reflect on those high points and low points, those successes and failures, those weaknesses and strengths, and those joys and sorrows that have contributed to my life. Sometimes it has seemed like God was taking a vacation when going through some of the more difficult times in life. However, when I look back over the all the hills and valleys from my present vantage point, I can see God’s wisdom and presence in it all. I know that when I share my life’s pilgrimage, I will benefit from the experience far more than those who listen. God has worked in all my life. This also gives me hope for facing the future. While there is much I do not understand,and I still have lots of questions, I can be assured of God’s love and guidance in what lies ahead.
My favorite musician over the years has been Ken Medema, who has been a fixture at recent Mennonite conventions. His song, In My Life is especially meaningful when I think of my life. Here are the words.

As I look down the way
I have walked in my life
As I see choices made
In the heat of my life
I can see that if I knew
Everything that I know now
Then I might have changed the
Ways of my life.
My life…

I can see from this hill
All the turns in the road
Where I might have gone wrong
With no hope of return
You were always there
To pick me up when I was following
Down along the ways of my life
My life…

Somehow I cannot remember
Calling, calling on your help
When I was dashing
Dashing through my life
With all my bridges burning

I stood on the edge of danger
More times than I ever knew
And I can see that you were
Always standing there beside me
Nudging turning…nudging turning

The mistakes in my life
And the pain in my life
Into places to learn
What you mean in my life
Oh I must admit
That I have learned too slowly
I would like to say
Loud and clear

That I wouldn’t want to be without you
In my life

I wouldn’t want to be without you

In my life…
Note: Writing a blog is something new for me. My plans are to put up a new blog every week on something that I am thinking about. Don’t hesitate to respond with your comments and suggestions.

The Other Side of Mother’s Day

This week we are celebrating the contributions and blessings that mothers have made to our lives. It is a day of celebrations, cards and flowers. Families get together to honor mothers and the significant role they have played.

Certainly it is appropriate to celebrate mothers and what they have meant to us. At the same time we must be aware that there is another side to mother’s day. For some, Mother’s Day is a mixed bag and for others the day is full of grief and pain. For many people, Mother’s Day is a painful reminder of a relationship that does not exist.

There are a whole variety of reasons why people and especially women feel pain on this special day.
1. Some have lost mothers and fathers to death recently and this is the first Mother’s Day they will not be a part of the festivities. Nothing is the same without them
2. Some who have lost mothers, maybe even a long time ago, even now wish they would have expressed their love and appreciation of them before they died. Mother’s Day brings back all that feeling and emotion.
3. Some have children that have moved far away. It is a lonely day especially when people see many other mother’s surrounded by their families on this special day.
4. There are those whose mother inspire feelings of hurt and anger rather than love and admiration. Some mothers have had unreasonable expectations of their children rather than love and acceptance.
5. There are those families who are in conflict and all seems like a farce, but they go through the motions of Mother’s Day anyway.

Probably the main reason Mother’s Day is full of grief and pain is the loss of children to death or the lack of children. Seeing all the happy mothers and families is very difficult
1. Some of the women who hurt are single. They have never had the opportunity ro have the children they wanted. Their biological clock is running out and they realize they may never become a mother.
2. Some are unable to conceive, infertile. One woman wrote: “There is no pain like the pain of infertility. It is devastating. My husband and I wanted children very much and seeing all our friends have children only made matters worse. We could not go anywhere without being reminded of our childlessness. Church was often the worst place because it represented families. We found ourselves withdrawing from our friends…It was just too painful.”
3. Some of the women who hurt have miscarried. Another woman wrote: “A miscarriage is a major loss and can change you forever, even if your story has a happy ending and you have children later.”
4. Some mothers who have children who died as infants. The pain never goes away. Mother’s Day is just one more reminder of their great loss.
5. Some women have children who have died as young people and as adults. Mother’s Day is a reminder of that acute pain and emptiness that nothing can replace.
6. Some women who hurt grieve for children who have chosen a different path than the one we wished for them. Maybe they do not want anything to do with the church. Maybe they are living a completely different and questionable lifestyle.
7. Other mothers grieve because their children have disabling conditions, life threatening diseases, or mental illness. They wonder why their child can’t be normal like other children.
8. Women hurt because they have given up their child for adoption.

I am sure there are other reasons why women and men are grieving on this special day. My hope is that we can all be aware of the grief and pain around us and respond to people with love, compassion and empathy. I am not saying that we should not celebrate Mother’s Day but we need to realize that not all can celebrate in the same way.