Being a Mennonite has meant different things to me at different points in my life. Growing up it probably had more to do with speaking Low German, eating Mennonite food, and being conservative. Of course, your last name had to be Friesen or Wiebe or Thiessen (or Siemens!). But then being a Mennonite became more about having a strong work ethic, being Anabaptist and pacifist. In my travels and as I've been home for about 1/2 year now, I think that it has come full circle for me - not in my thoughts, but from the thoughts of Menno Simons.
"For true evangelical faith...cannot lay dormant; but manifests itself in all righteousness and works of love; it...clothes the naked; feeds the hungry; consoles the afflicted; shelters the miserable; aids and consoles all the oppressed; returns good for evil; serves those that injure it; prays for those that persecute it."
—Menno Simons, Why I Do Not Cease Teaching and Writing, 1539
No comments:
Post a Comment