history – Ponder Anew

August 6= Hiroshima

August 6, 2025
Good afternoon
Today is the 80th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. Nagasaki was bombed three days later. In all 210,000 people were immediately incinerated. More people died days later, and many people were disabled and died many years later. These were civilians, both adults and children. According to international law, killing civilians is a war crime. No one has been prosecuted for these deaths. The two nuclear bombs dropped ended the war with Japan in 1945.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons or ICAN has been working for decades to ban countries from having nuclear weapons. The number of weapons is down from the height of the Cold War in the 1960s and 70s, but more states have them including Israel, Pakistan, India and North Korea. The group works all the time to find ways to lessen the danger of the use of these kinds of armaments. ICAN won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017. This group includes Project Ploughshare, a peace group in Waterloo.

Some of the volunteers are survivors of the actual blasts in August of 1945. They are, of course, all over the age of 80. They are known as ‘ hibakusha. ‘, and they continue to witness to the destruction, and call for the ending of nuclear weapons. Some people say that the system has worked with all nuclear countries saying that they will never shoot first. And no other bombs have been dropped since 1945. But, the billions of dollars spent every year on security, maintenance and soldiers could be used in more constructive ways. Reduce illness, Reduce poverty. Grow more food.

He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

Isaiah 2:4

Isaiah’s prophecy has yet be be realized, we hope today for Gaza, Congo, Sudan and Myanmar. AMEN.

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ? MPL 2025

Trouble at the Anabaptist Table

( You can access my blog at ponderanewsite )

May 28, 2025

Good afternoon,

There will be a worship celebration in Zurich, Switzerland tomorrow at 11:00 am EDT. It is to be a celebration of 500 years of Anabaptism. I am not sure how many people are to be at the Grossmunster Cathedral in downtown Zurich. When our group traveled there in April, we were able to sing a hymn in this church. It was a holy moment for us. This church is where sermons were preached denouncing re-baptism, calling for the death of the Anabaptists in the 1500’s. Across the river is a plaque pointing out the place where one of the earliest Anabaptists, Felix Manz, was drowned for his faith.

Anabaptists believed the war and sword was not a Christian thing to do. This was heresy for the Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed churches. It was part of the early Anabaptist confessions of faith at Schleitheim. We will not take up the sword. Peacemaking and peacekeeping has been part of our witness for 500 years. We have searched the world for places of peace. But, but, but, we have not always been peaceful to each other. There were various groups at the beginning of our history too that did not get along, but called for peace.

Tomorrow there will be a problem at the celebration table. I do not know if communion will be celebrated. Mennonite Central Committee is under scrutiny for some of its practices to some of its volunteers. Over 20 former volunteers have shared about MCC abuse, gaslighting and non-disclosure agreements. I have read the statements and they are awful. I cannot believe MCC would act in this way, but I cannot believe these former MCC volunteers would write these things if they were not true.

At the gathering tomorrow, people are asked to wear teal coloured ribbons to call MCC to task and for peacemaking . Again, there is trouble at the Anabaptist / Mennonite table. Unfortunately, this is not a new thing for us. Our faith is embedded in us, and we want all things to be in the right order, and we want to be in the right relationship with each other, and God. But, again we are at war/disagreement/differences of opinion with each other. This trouble has been in the Mennonite press. I am hoping for reconciliation, for everyone.
” If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ” Romans 12:18

LORD HAVE MERCY ON US ALL. amen.

Gaza.

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ? MPL 2025

Dirk Willems

March 18, 2025

Good afternoon

Anabaptist Tuesday

The Martyrs Mirror book of the 1660’s, documents the deaths of Anabaptist believers of the 1500’s. It tells about 800 or more of the people that were killed. It is a gruesome book about man’s inhumanity to each other. It does not document the violence done by Anabaptists that occured in a few places in the Netherlands and Germany. And it does not tell about the people who renounced their faith in Anabaptism, so they could live. It is a complex history.

Vision magazine ( from CMU ) had a whole issue devoted to the world of Anabaptism of the 16th century in 2024. Jennifer Otto writes the following:

” [ the stories of martyrs ] were copied by Anabaptists for the purpose of inspiring other Anabaptists . That is not to suggest that they are not authentic

, but it is to remind us that they are not disinterested . Martyrs Mirror aims to depict the early Anabaptists in the best possilbe light ” ( page 33 )

She invites us to think about how we remember these stories. The best of the martyrs is Dirk Willems. He is a selfless person who is chased by a police officer. The officer falls through the ice, and Dirk stops, and rescues him. Dirk is re-arrested, and is put in jail and eventually executed. We honour the courage and faith of Dirk. Other stories are not so uplifting, and Catholics are vilified in many of the stories. Not all early Anabaptists were nice people. This should be no surprise . We are all a part of a complex church history. It took over 400 years for churches that killed Mennonites to ask for forgiveness, and it took that long for Mennonites to offer forgiveness. That is a long time to hold onto being martyrs.

Who are your faith people who guide your daily lives ? Today, we have a complex history with leaders who have done sexual harm to people. We have people who have changed the lives of people for the better through the church and MCC. My most challenging person is John Howrad Yoder. His writings changed the way I read the Bible, and what I thought of peacemaking ( in 1981 ). Then in the 1990’s it came out that he had abused over 30 women, while teaching at the Mennonite Seminary. How do I hold both things in my faith journey ?

We should all try to be like Dirk Willems .

Seen on a Pennsylvania highway last week. Our hero, Dirk Willems.

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ? MPL 2025

What happened?

March 3, 2025

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said yesterday,

” that America’s “rapidly changing” foreign policy “largely coincides with our vision.”

I mentioned in a sermon a few weeks ago that I received the message that we were supposed to hate the Russians in the 1960s and 1970s. I grew up in the vicinity of two large power plants , one in Canada and one in the US, and there was fear that if bombs were going to drop we might be the targets. My mom and dad came out of Russia/Ukraine in the 1920’s and had endured suffering as little children. My dad held on to that kind of hate for the Russians, I think, for his entire life. One of my kids has said that I am always in fear of the Soviets coming to get us. He might be right.

Now, I read that the Russians are in line with the US. What happened ? Now I might have to live in fear of the United States, and Russia. I try to not live with a ‘them and us’ mentality, but it is ingrained in me from 1968, and the Czech revolution. It was put down by the Soviets. Love is supposed to cast out all fear. I am learning, and working at it, but it does not come easy. Fear moves through trauma and through generations. I think I received some of it from my mom and dad.

The church is not helpful. The evangelical church in the US is lining up beside the present government. The largest church in Russia is the Orthodox, and they are praying for the President of Russia to defeat Ukraine. Paul the apostle talks about the ‘ principalities and powers ‘:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,

but against the rulers, against the authorities,

against the powers of this dark world

and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 6:12

This struggle can be part of our Lent journey . We can change our prayer life, by focusing on the world and its struggles. Be silent before God, and see what the Spirit says to you and us. What is our vision to wage peaceful action against the powers of this world ?

When The Spirit Walks in the Room from Bruce Cockburn ( 2023 )

It can appear at any hour
When it comes, it comes in power
You may not walk, you may not see
But you’ll become what you can be

You’re a thread upon the loom
When the spirit walks in the room
We’re but threads upon the loom
When the spirit walks in the room

AMEN.

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ? MPL 2025