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 temporarily leisured person who voluntarily visits a place away from home for the purpose of experiencing a change,” Callard goes on to argue that, as tourism is currently practiced, it’s the...
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 legends that swirl around the person of Saint Francis, some of them more fantastical than others. Born to a wealthy family, he eventually renounced that wealth, stripping naked in the town square to show the depth of his conviction. He ended up giving much of his former wealth away and turned toward a...
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 where the phrase comes from. None of us knew.
This week’s Daily Meditations from Richard Rohr include a reflection on liminal space, but doesn’t address its origins.
Fortunately, this is easy to research. The...
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 designation recognizes “places deemed of universal importance and value to humankind...
We’ve just started the Narrative Lectionary and it’s pretty clear up front, despite the nine month span, that’s it’s just a skim through the Bible. This coming Sunday Isaac will be promised to Sarah and Abraham, after which we’ll see Isaac’s son Jacob wrestling with an angel, drop in on Moses at the burning bush, and catch the Ten Commandments at Sinai. Then we’re out of the Torah altogether with the Ruth story and the kings and prophets of Israel.
We’ll try to tie some things together in between but it’s a fast trip.
Skipping from Genesis 2 (Garden of Eden) to Genesis 18...