Ponder Anew

August 4, 2025

Good afternoon,

I am not good with administration. We delayed receiving our CPP and OAS until this year. This is fine, but when I did get to it, it took a long time because forms stress me out. You could do it on-line, but that was a mess for me. So, I went to the office on Frederick Street, and I found out that they moved it to the south end of Kitchener, near the 401 highway.  I went into the office, and they said I needed our marriage certificate. The form did not say I needed it for OAS or CPP. I went back three more times, and although the Service Canada employees were polite, they all said slightly different things. Finally, for the fourth time I went last week to bring the final documents. Now I will wait for the secondary persons to tell me what I did not give to them on the forms. Fortunately, we will get money back retroactive to when we applied, I think.

Last week, I sat down in the waiting area ( for the last time ? ) to wait for the Service Canada representative to call my name. A man sits down next to me, and says ” I am a miracle “.  Last week I was in tremendous pain, and I could not do anything. It was going on for six months. The doc finally diagnosed me with polymyalgia (?) , and three days ago I started meds, and it is a miracle. Look at me . ” . He stood up, and raised his arms above his head, and he jumped up and down. He couldn’t do it three days ago. ” It is a miracle, ” he said over and over again. I asked him if there were any side effects. He began laughing and could hardly get the words out, ”  The doctor said I will have, ‘ chronic happiness , no, no, manic  happiness’. Can you believe it ? He kept laughing and smiling. ” Manic happiness “. Wow eh !! My number was called, and I gave the man a fist bump, and I left him smiling. When I came out, he was gone. I think I was visited by an angel.

 As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him.  Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

 The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

 Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.

 “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”

 Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.

 Matthew 20:29-34

Praying for peace for the children of Gaza. AMEN.

Fred

August 5, 2025

Good afternoon,

Wow, another God story. I had my first shift at The Mennonite Story at the St. Jacobs market this morning. It was not very busy for the first two hours. Then, the coordinator  asked me to come out to the lobby. There was a man from Switzerland who had  been the minister at the Grossmunster Church( 2003-2024) in Zurich. There are pictures on the wall in the museum of the church where he was pastor. He wanted to show me. He knew the history, the Mennonite story. He wanted to tell me about the reconciliation service held in 2004, where  thousands of Mennonites showed up, and the Reformed Church leadership asked for forgiveness for the violence done to the Anabaptists in the 16th and 17the century. He was in tears. The church where he was pastor had condemned many early Anabaptists to death.
I told him I had been to Zurich in April. 

 I told him that we had been to the church where he had been pastor ( see picture above ), and the many other places of importance for Mennonites. His name is Christoph Sigrist, and he teaches religion at the University of Zurich. After showing the short video on the Old Order community, he asked me, ” Do you have hope for the church  ? ” Well, I said, ” I have to live with hope, but I am not optimistic. Many churches are closing, and the church is getting smaller and older all the time.” He said it is the same in Switzerland. 

Do you have hope for the church? On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being ‘ we are done ‘ , where would you put a number for the church surviving well ? There has been lots of study on what has happened , and what to do going forward, but it seems the church has lost its way. I do not think that God has given up on us. I believe that the focus on love and non-violence is a strength we have in our community. Is it enough ? What do you think ?

To the church of God in Corinth,

           to those sanctified in Christ Jesus 

                      and called to be his holy people, 

                            together with all those everywhere

                                  who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

                                               Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 1:2-3
Fred

black and white shadows 

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ? 

MPL 2025

July 29, 2025

Good afternoon,” Black and white shadows ”    from 2025 haiku.

There seems to be more blind shadows than open ones in our world. Canada said it was not sending weapons to Israel, but a new report says Canada got around the law, and has been sending weapons the whole time. Why would they do this, money, political motives ? Canada is better than this. I would hope so. How can I live in hope for this world ? This world, as God’s creation , is important. It is sacred. It is the only community that we have for our faith. I want more white shadows rather than shadows of darkness. 

How did Jesus of Nazareth view his time on earth ? With the Roman Empire in charge, did Jesus see the world negatively ? Did he know that he was going to die, when he came out of the wilderness of the Jordan desert ? Did he ever think that the Temple would accept his new ideas about Gentiles and salvation. We have no way of knowing the answers to these questions. Did Jesus have free will to change the mission of his Father, but he was part of the Trinity ?

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of birth pains.  Matthew 24:6-8

Matthew 24 has a negative outlook of the world. I do not want to be wrong about the world. My biggest worry is that Mr. Trump will call for martial law, and use the military to make him King or President for life. His followers might manufacture a crisis where he will say I have to save America, and . “I must take control of everything.”  This has nothing to do with God, but it will increase the suffering of people. I hope I am wrong.

Praying for food for the children of Gaza. Amen

Fred