Tag: religion

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

A New Pope

May 9, 2025

We have a new Pope, Leo XIV.

We arrived in Jordan on early Easter Sunday. Hannah brought us to an Arabic Catholic Mass at 10:00 am. Although. we could not understand the service, it was nice to be worshipping on Easter Sunday. And the singing was good. There was a police presence there with a car with shaded windows and a Jordanian flag on its hood. Normal, maybe ? We left before the communion part, but we stayed for the giving of the peace of Christ.


Then on Monday morning, I went out for a walk up the hill (  there is always a hill or steps to climb in Amman), and stopped for a coffee, a rich, strong blend of Turkish coffee. When I arrived back in their apartment. Hannah said the Pope died. He had just celebrated communion in Rome for Easter. I know he has been sick and in hospital for weeks but it was still a surprise.
I thought Pope Francis had the compassion of Christ. He stood up for the poor, the marginalized and the refugees. He was not afraid of the world’s powerful men and women. He stood up for the Palestinian people, saying the continued attacks on Gaza were wrong. Francis has the heart for the world. Since the beginning of the onslaught on Gaza, Pope Francis phoned the very small Catholic community in Gaza every evening, to love them and to show that the whole world has not forgotten them.
I hope Pope Leo XIV will be the same compassionate man as Frances was . My prayer for him is that the Spirit will guide his words and his actions throughout his tenure as Pope.

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ?

 MPL 2025

February 12, 2025

Good afternoon,

” The claim of the mystic is, at last, that you don’t need anything to bring you to God. You don’t need a mediator. You don’t need an institution. You don’t need a ceremony or a ritual. God is in me, and the ladder from the earth to sky is available. So, I can ascend my own altar stairs wherever I am, under any circumstances, and the key to the understanding of the experience, and to the experience itself, is never in the hands of any other human being .  ” 

Howard Thurman, mystic theologian

The Reformation taught us that we could go to God with only ourselves . Our presence with the divine did not need a priest as a mediator. This is one of the items that proved to separate the Catholics from the Protestants in the 1500’s. Do you believe that you can meet God alone ? You don’t need your pastor or teacher or mystic theologian ? I agree with this. We can meet the Divine in nature, in the snow, with the trees and birds singing. You can read the Bible, and God can speak to you through the letters, the sentences and paragraphs. But, we need the community as well.

Yet, sometimes I hear that ” I do not know how to pray to God “. Just go and ‘ be ‘. You do not  need words or anything else. When Jesus went off to pray at various times while here on this earth, we do know what he said. Maybe, he just needed time away in silence. But, if you need words, then use words. Maybe you want to sing to God. You do not need to be on key.

Prayers 

God : of  the Book, creation and each other,                                                                                                                                                

small words are fine

to offer to you.

Bigger words are not better,

            just different,

You , O God,

invite us into your divine, holy and sacred presence.

Come quickly . AMEN

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ? MPL 2025

Mike StrathdeeWed, Feb 12, 1:50 PM (18 hours ago)
Mike Strathdee reacted to your message: From: Fred Redekop <fred.redekop@gmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2025 6:42:10 PM To: Fred Redekop <fred.redekop
Wanda HagenWed, Feb 12, 8:20 PM (12 hours ago)
Love your poetry Fred.
Fred Redekop <fred.redekop@gmail.com>7:46 AM (50 minutes ago)
to Wanda