Weekly wonderings

  This Sunday we will look at the last in the series put out by Mennonite Church Canada in preparation for the assembly being held here in Edmonton this summer: "We Declare..." This is also the last of my blogs, at least for now.  I have been reevaluating the fragmented and sometimes overcommitted busy-ness of my day to day life and have decided this is one thing I could give up. Since this blog has not turned out to meet the needs of those who spoke of missing my weekly reflections, and since few if any of them are even reading it, I have decided to stop - at least for now.  Back to the series..... Over the course of the series we have read of the call to share God's good news with others - even with the world!  We have reflected on how we sometimes turn the good news into bad news, causing pain and frustration instead of joy and freedom. We have looked at how the Good news of God's love and vision for peace and justice was around already in the Old Testament, and h...

This week we have an interesting confluence in our service as we come to the fifth session of the "We Declare" series on Pentecost Sunday.  We both celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit to everyday people in a new, dramatic way, and look at how we bear witness to what we have seen, heard and believe in a secular age.   All around us there are people who have very different experiences of God and the the church. Some believe in ways similar to ours, some have come to believe God is calling them to different beliefs and practices, and some don't even believe that God exists.  How do we speak our truth into these diverse situations? How do we respect our siblings, God's other beloved children, while holding diametrically opposing views from theirs? What role does the Holy Spirit play as we look for answers to these questions?  As we read the stories and letters that make up the New Testament we see different approaches to sharing the good news of God's love, inca...