In
quietness and trust is your strength (Isaiah 30:15)
It is July.
July is vacation time, officially that is. Actually the airlines and travel
agents would have us believe that any time is vacation time. July still
qualifies - at least kind of. Schools are closed, except – in elementary some children must learn extra things because report
cards raised a concern or parents have great dreams for their little ones. Highschoolers
too actually, extra credits or make up classes needed here or there for many
various reasons. Come to think of it, summer school is not only the kids. I’ve
been there too. I remember myself one July with my wife and our two toddlers embarking
on seminary studies, sweaty hot summer nights full of nightmares, desperately
trying to memorize conjugations and tenses of New Testament Greek required for
some serious seminary studies to commence in September.
So … July vacation time? Perhaps not for all. The vacation image actually brings a kind of stress
with it, an illusion? This year my mind is full of – many things in changing
times and changing seasons - a busy head. Uppermost in this head is a considerable
preoccupation with my faith. Yes, right in among the spring and summertime
activities, my good mix of reading and writing and basement bathroom
renovations – the homey things. In addition
there are the things out there, the headlines, social media messages, our
American neighbors trying to cope with a dealmaking, dealbreaking inconsistent president,
and us citizens in our country not sure whether we want a Liberal Canada or a
broke-down private enterprise Conservative shadow of the U.S. Among all this I need
my faith – in fact very grateful that I am able to claim it.
Gratitude
for a living faith, thanks be to God. As indicated in my latest blog, I am a
Mennonite, part of the Anabaptist faith community with its beginnings back
there about 500 years ago. I rest my case as presented in my previous post (take a
read if interested). [i] As
indicated there, I am increasingly grateful that our Anabaptist communion is now right
in here among many other faith communities. We belong! We have a significant place in
today’s mixed up world. With this vantage of gratitude I go to my mailbox (yes
snail mail) and there, printed on paper, discover immediately some differing ways of thinking about this!
To whit,
“Closing Prayers: Facing the end times on our knees” front cover article in Ministry,
[ii]
a Journal for pastors, a Seventh Day Adventist publication which I have
received free of charge forever. They just keep sending it to me, and
eventually I have become grateful because they just don’t quit. Then there is
latest issue of Canadian Mennonite,[iii]
a publication serving my denomination of the Anabaptists (as per subscriptions.
no freebies here😅), latest issue front cover article entitled “Here be
Dragons.”
First
impressions? Two magazines of very different vintage. First impulse? Start hyperventilating.
On the one hand I can get upset with my denomination, the Mennonites, our
signpost publication with cover picture and editorial imaging an ancient
mapmakers’ lore reaching the edge and not knowing what’s beyond. Even after
reading the very thorough report of current celebrations including excellent
testimonials of what 500 years of church history means to us, there remains a mysterious mystery, woher wohin. Cover picture
of dragon heads and tails just a little too close to Dungeons and Dragons, that
unchristian gamers game. The other
magazine? Well, it’s nice to find a heading fully focused on – prayer and end
times? Most of us Mennonites can easily relate to that also. A read of first article here, however, leaves me sort of unmoved. It
hardly focuses on end-time signs, mostly proof texting with a few thematic
Bible verses to make four points on how to be a good prayer warrior.
Two
articles, neither quite cutting it for this reader. And having begun this
little tome with my good faith gratitude, how shall I continue? Do I enter critique and analysis? Or …
perhaps the scripture in the epigraph above? Another scripture comes to mind, leans
in the same direction, “Of making
many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh”
(Ecclesiastes 12:12). I shall go there. And then there is a memory. I am reminded of ... silence.
Many years ago I was chosen to be the pastor of a new church. Among the enthusiasms of the early participants there were details – not only organizational but also purposive. How and where would we focus this new ministry? One of our deacons had a perspective which took hold among us. Before we got too busy with vision statements and goals she suggested we have a silent retreat. We did, a resource person one of the members of Church of the Savior, Washington, DC! We experienced a miracle at that retreat - learned how to sit without words, how to pray and share out of the silence. It became an inspiration for this pastor and a core directive in the life and ministry of that congregation.
In recent months I have devoted some time to reading about and participating in some celebration of “Anabaptists at 500.” My suggestion at this time is we need to believe more in our ministry of peace, which the world needs desperately and we are well situated to provide it. We need, however, the strength and the power of our witness to come out of silence – rather than the noisy posts on social media, or noisy critiques of the devious and/or good politicians. Let our witness emerge out of the quiet and confidence. More than ever we need it now.
[i]
“Know Your Place”, https://www.jcfroomthoughts.blogspot.com/.
[ii]
Silver Springs, MD: Seventh Day Adventist Church, Vol.97, no.5, May 2025.
[iii] “500 Years Behind Us, Uncharted Waters Ahead”, Vol.29, no.07, July 2025.
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