๐Ÿ•Š๏ธ “Delivering 300-year-old Mail

    Swiss-German Mennonites did not pull themselves up by their bootstraps when they came to North America. Many 18th-century families had help from the Dutch Mennonites, who financed early immigration to Pennsylvania. Mennonites in Amsterdam also sent aid to poor and persecuted Anabaptist families in Switzerland and the Palatine region of Germany. Their descendants โ€” especially those in Plain Anabaptist communities โ€” donโ€™t want this legacy of mutual aid to be forgotten.

    Sunday Quote ๐Ÿ•Š๏ธ๐Ÿด

    Call to Worship&10;Left: What burden do we bear? Is it the yoke of empire, heavy as cast iron, shackling our lives to the machinery of power?&10;Right: Let us bind ourselves to the plowshare of Christ.&10;Its crossbeam is light. Its harness rings with bells.&10;Left: We do not wish to harden the earth with our weight or trample&10;the oppressed with our force.&10;Right: We yearn to turn over the ground and sow the seed of peace&10;and compassion!&10;All:&10;Gracious God, we relinquish the burden of empire. We long to shoulder all those who mourn.&10;Prayer of Invocation&10;Welcome

    ๐Ÿ•Š๏ธ I have this weird and super-dorky idea that someday a Baptist is going to ask if Iโ€™m Baptist and Iโ€™m gonna be like:

    nah, Iโ€™m OG Baptist, anabaptist

    โ€ฆand weโ€™ll have a big laugh together.

    (Not gonna happen.)

    ๐Ÿ•Š๏ธ ๐ŸŽถ ๐ŸŽ™๏ธ๐Ÿ“š

    I like the variety of pre-church activity this morning in our house.

    Iโ€™m listening to HolyName - Fall on Your Knees and their live heavy taizรฉ set.

    Spouse is listening to Emily P. Freeman/Next Right Thing, charming inspiresting devotional.

    Both reading At Home in Exile by Russell Jeung

    Look, Iโ€™m a Mennonite and had to ask what this is.

    (Apparently itโ€™s some vinegar-and-cabbage preparation that sounds like cheater-sauerkraut. I suspect this is yet another appropriation of โ€œAmishโ€ and not at all authentic?)

    Pork chops with โ€œAmish Chow Chowโ€

    ๐Ÿ•Š๏ธ๐Ÿ“š Double-preordering this Advent book from the incredible Shannon Walker Dycus: The Holy in the Night - Herald Press. You should too!

    โ€œMaybe Hobbits are like Mennonites with big hairy feet?โ€

    ๐Ÿ•Š๏ธ๐Ÿด๐Ÿƒ TIL: some Mennonites didnโ€™t play with regular playing cards1 because of the Kings, Queens, and Jacks.

    (I had always heard it was because of gambling.)


    1. instead, playing โ€œDutchโ€ Blitz, Rook, and other card games. ↩︎

    ๐Ÿ•Š๏ธ Ever since Everence lost their focus I occasionally dream about restarting Mennonite (or Anabaptist) Mutual Aid, but I donโ€™t want to deal with all the legal stuff. #MennoCon23

    (Admittedly, compliance was likely one of the factors driving Everenceโ€™s retreat, as well.)

    ๐Ÿ•Š๏ธ Goshen College winning the shirt giveaway contest at #MennoCon23

    Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly. Micah 6:8

    ๐Ÿ•Š๏ธ who knew Mennonites could jam this hard?

    Loud Environment Sound levels hit 90 decibels. Around 30 minutes at this level can cause temporary hearing loss. This measurement takes into account the sound reduction from wearing your AirPods.

    And yes, I was wearing earbuds in noise-cancelling mode. (Insert old man yelling at clouds gif here ๐Ÿ˜†)

    ๐Ÿ•Š๏ธโ™ป๏ธ Good workshop on Climate Anxiety, Hope, and Resilience this morning. #MennoCon23

    Once again I made the call to reorient our conferences and districts to our watersheds.

    This week is Mennonite (Church USA) national convention. Along with the normal stuff, I again have delegate duties.

    For a short but inadequate description of modern Mennonites, read this.

    As usual, Iโ€™ll use ๐Ÿ•Š๏ธ (category page and feed) for church & faith matters.

    ๐Ÿ•Š๏ธโ™ป๏ธ cool story from local Mennos:

    317 Project: Herron-Morton couple has created a ‘carbon sink’ brimming with trees, flowers

    ๐Ÿ•Š๏ธ

    “The original โ€œIron Manโ€ script was decidedly pacifist, with protagonist Tony Stark attempting to use his enormous manufacturing empire to battle against war profiteers and the military industrial complex. However, after the Pentagon got involved…the tone of the movie was radically altered. Much of the fighting in the movie takes place in modern-day Afghanistan, with the U.S. military serving the role of the good guys. In this sense, the filmโ€™s stance on war was reversed.”

    How the Pentagon Leaned on Hollywood to Sell the War in Afghanistan

    Me, putting on Keen sandals: โ€œlook, Iโ€™m a Mennoniteโ€

    ๐Ÿ•Š๏ธ Iโ€™m sleepy and almost nodding off during our Tenebrae service. Just call me โ€œSimonโ€?

    ๐ŸŒฐ๐ŸŽ Indiana Nut and Fruit Growers Association meeting and scion swap, today.

    We are walking there after church.

    The White River Alliance is issuing an urgent action request to protect Indiana wetlands. This is important for flood & drought management, ecosystems, biodiversity, and much more.

    A surprise amendment aimed at further reducing protection of wetlands in Indiana was added to unrelated Senate Bill 414 yesterday (March 22).&10;Ironically, this amendment to SB 414 comes only a few months after the Indiana Wetland Task Force issued its report emphasizing that Indiana could not afford to lose any more wetlands.&10;Our state legislators need to hear from constituents who want wetlands protected. Please reach out to vour state representative as soon as possible, and urge them to OPPOSE this legislation or to remove the wetland language.&10;This bill could be considered by the full Indiana House as soon as Monday, March 27, - so time is of the essence!
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