Christmas letter 2008

This is the letter being sent out this year. The wife insists this is not the "official" way to do this. For it to be official she says it has to be accompanied by a card, in an envelope, preferably with a stamp, though for some family members she is willing to make the stamp optional. So for the unofficial version continue reading.

Christmas letter 2008

The year started off with a fall. Walking to the post office during the last week of December, Beth slipped on a patch of ice, fell, and broke the bones in her lower left leg. The next Sunday she led her last service as the pastor of the English River Church of the Brethren from a wheelchair. She spent most of the next four months sitting, letting her leg heal and trying to figure out what she should do next. A broken leg, lupus, and crutches do not make for a good combination. We are grateful and friends and family who helped make this time easier.

This year we both turned 50 and we celebrated our 30th anniversary. Since we made it together this long we decided to try something different. In August, Beth moved to Elkhart, Indiana where she began working on an M.Div. at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries. Since I couldn't find work in northern Indiana, I stayed in Iowa where I continue to teach and coach at Iowa Mennonite School. It has been interesting to live by myself for the first time. Once Beth got over the jitters of being an older student she realized she could do the required work and she seems to enjoy her classes and seminary life.

Dirk is in his senior year at Goshen College. He decided to spend the summer in Goshen where he spent most of the time working for the physical plant crew. Erin resigned from her job at the Mennonite Historical Library and moved to Indianapolis where she began working on her Masters in Library Science. It is always breathtaking to hear her discuss the latest intricacies in the world of library cataloguing.

This summer we attended a Peachey reunion in Belleville, Pennsylvania and took Beth's mother along for the ride. From there Beth and I drove to Philadelphia with a stop in Akron, to visit my brother, Ed's family. It was good to spend a couple of days in Philadelphia, visiting with friends, and exploring the city where we lived for ten years.

If all goes well, Beth will be at AMBS for two more years, Dirk will graduate and figure out somthing to do for work or service, Erin will recieve her MLS and find a library position, and as for me, I'll probably just keep plugging along.

Blessings to you all,
Marcus and Beth

Rosa Bonds, antidrug activist

The other day I got an email from a friend in Philadelphia telling me Rosa Bonds had died. I thought I would put her obituary from the Philadelphia Inquirer on here because she was a rather interesting lady I had the chance to work with while we lived on Pastorius Street. Miss Rosa was one of those people who Obama described the other night in his speech as one of the many nameless people who work every day to make their neighborhood a better place.

I got to know Miss Rosa when a couple of us realized that along Germantown Avenue there was a neighborhood organization whose boundaries ended about five blocks north of the 6100 block of Germantown Ave. and another organization which ended about three blocks to the south of us. In that eight to nine block area there were four to five bars, numerous abandoned buildings, a couple of churches, a music school and a few businesses. We, two white guys, one from rural Indiana, and me from rural Iowa, got the bright idea that we should try to organize this area to see if we could get the city to pay some attention to the area and if we could help improve the area.

I talked with some of my neighbors and they thought it would be okay to try this so we knocked on doors, mailed invitations and had our first meeting. Miss Rosa was one of the foks who showed up and one of the few who didn't try to give us a hard time. After a couple of meetings it was to the point where some of the folks thought we needed to elect officers. Miss Rosa thought I should be the president but since I was one of about three white folks involved I figured it was best that she or someone else do it. At that point I didn't know about some of her other work but it seemed she was quite capable of leading any group that emerged from our meager efforts.

Over the next couple of years we organized a few street cleanings and did manage to get three of the nuisance bars closed. During the course of this Miss Rosa organized one of her anti drug activities. We set up our grills on the corner of Pastorius and Baynton Streets where lots of drug activity was taking place. We got a local store to donate some hot dogs and soda and had a little neighborhood party. We even had a local tv crew show up along with a few unhappy drug dealers and customers. It was one of the more memorable evenings during our time in the city.

So here's to Miss Rosa, a women who worked tirelessly to make her neighborhood and city a better place.

Rosa Bond, fearless anti-drug crusader

Posted on Tue, Oct. 28, 2008

By JOHN F. MORRISON
Philadelphia Daily News

morrisj@phillynews.com 215-854-5573

The senior citizens stood on street corners in East Germantown in all kinds of weather, sweating in the heat and shivering in the cold, for a just and dangerous cause: To chase away the drug dealers.

Their method was simply to find a corner where the dealers were operating and just stand there. These grandmothers and grandfathers took torrents of abuse and threats.

Sometimes they would bark back at the young punks, who needed selling room at a cherished corner. But mostly, the demonstrators just stood there while the dealers hid.

Possibly the most stalwart, and certainly the most defiant, was a feisty grandmother named Rosa Bonds.

"She had a mouth on her," said C.B. Kimmins, longtime drug crusader and a founder of Mantua Against Drugs. "I admired the daylights out of her."

Rosa died Oct. 14 at age 75. She lived in East Germantown.

In pursuit of her crusade, Rosa would hop into her battered old Chevy and drive herself and other demonstrators - and sometimes her grandkids - to the drug hangouts.

Former Inquirer columnist Steve Lopez wrote about Rosa and her cohorts: "Some young turk turning off Osceola Street onto Pastorius with that strut that says they aren't even there, that says they can't touch him. Nobody can touch him."

But Rosa was not intimidated. She raised her trusty megaphone and shouted: "Drug dealer! Drug dealer! Drug dealer!"

The 20-ish youth continued his cocky strut. She shouted again: "You can run but you can't hide! We charge you with genocide!"

In other confrontations, Rosa and the others simply ignored threats of violent death.

"I'm gonna go get my gun," a dealer would shout at her.

"Go ahead," she would reply. "Go get it." The gun never materialized.

The dealers took one look at this brazen grandmom and slithered away. Of course, they came back.

Steve Lopez wrote: "Rosa Bonds is on the megaphone at midnight, backed up by senior citizens fighting to save their homes. Just down the block, barely visible, the devil peeks around the corner."

Rosa was a founder and officer of East Germantown Against Drugs. Members wore white hats stenciled with the group's initials - EGAD.

Kimmins and his Mantua Against Drugs members would travel to East Germantown to stand with the seniors. "We stood out there in the cold. We told jokes, we talked to the neighbors," Kimmins said. "They told us, 'We never saw the block this quiet.' "

The grass-roots antidrug crusade in the city originated with the late Herman Wrice, who was fearless. He would go out with a sledgehammer and batter down the doors of drug dens.

Eventually, C.B. Kimmins and others sought him out and established Mantua Against Drugs. Rosa Bonds and her partners in East Germantown patterned their actions after the Mantua activists.

In 1990, Rosa, a staunch Republican (but later a Barack Obama supporter), ran unsuccessfully against Dave Richardson for the Pennsylvania House from the 201st District.

Rosa Bonds was born in Spartanburg, S.C. She attended school until the fifth grade in Asheville, N.C. After she arrived in Philadelphia as a girl, she graduated from William Penn High School and became a nurse's aide at Temple University Hospital and the American Oncological Hospital, now Fox Chase Cancer Center.

She also worked as a clerk for the city, in the old Philadelphia General Hospital and for the Department of Licenses & Inspections.

In 1952, she married George Bonds, who predeceased her.

She is survived by a daughter, Rosalind; four sons, Anor, George, Chester and William Sr., and nine grandchildren.

Barack Obama

Yesterday the people of the United States elected Barack Obama to be the next President of the United States. He becomes the first African- American to be elected President and he won in a landslide. As I watched the election results and the scenes of people gathering in Grant Park in Chicago, at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, in Harlem, and outside the gates of the White House, I had to think of my old neighbor in the unit block of East Pastorius Street, Mrs. Rivers. Mrs Rivers and her husband lived in the house which shared a common wall, three bricks wide, with our house. In short we heard their arguments and they heard ours.

Once when I was in her house I noticed she had three pictures hanging on the wall above the mantel. In order, they were Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy. When I asked why she had pictures of those three men, she looked at me and said something like, "They helped give me my freedom and dignity and I want to think of them everyday."

I don't know if Mrs. Rivers is still living or not but if she is I would bet that there is a fourth picture hanging on her wall today. I'm certain she would have a picture of Obama displayed and that she would be praying for him everday.

I hope Obama does well and that he has a successful presidency. As one of the pundits said last night, "he doesn't have a hard act to follow."

world series champions

Growing up I never paid much attention to baseball. Baseball was Jack Brickhouse doing the play by play of Cubs games on tv Sunday afternoonst while dad slept on the couch covered by parts of the Sunday newspaper. If we dared to change the station we were invariably told loudly, "I was watching that." I never found the late 1960's Cubs to be all that entertaining. Later when I had a paper route and had some money I chose to spend some of it on football cards rather than the baseball variety.

I didn't begin paying attention to baseball until we spent the summer of 1979 in Philadelphia and then moved there in the summer of 1980. The Phillies won their first World Series in franchise history that fall so it was easy to get swept up in the excitement. With Mike Schmidt at 3rd, Larry Bowa at short, Garry Maddox, plus Steve Carleton pitching it was fun team to watch even on our little black and white television. Sometimes it was even better to listen to the games on the radio and hear the banter between Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn.

Later when we bought our run down rowhouse I spent a lot of evenings hanging sheetrock and painting while listening to Phillies games. In spite of the work it wasn't a bad way to spend an evening. We also went to numerous games during our ten years in the city. Generally I would go with some guys from church after the services were over. We would bring cooked hot dogs in a large thermos, one guy insisted on bringing some big stogies, and we were all set to go. Usually we just bought tickets for the cheap seats and relaxed from high on the third base side so we could see into the Phillies dugout.

The best seats I ever had was when a friend, Bruce, had friends who had friends with access to tickets owned by a radio station. It was the second or third game of the season, it was cold, and nobody wanted them so Bruce and I went. We sat at ground level just beyond first base. I learned quickly it was important to pay attention especially to foul balls.

I figured I should at least mention the Phillies won the World Series last week for the first time since 1980. It was a rather pleasant diversion from all the presidential politics which had taken a decidely negative turn over the last couple of weeks. It brought back good memories of the ten years we lived in Philadelphia. Plus with all the Cardinal fans who live around here who seem to feel entitled to a championship every couple of years, and this year all the Cubs fans who for some reason seemed to believe "this was the year," it was fun to ask, "how about those Phillies?"

Thermopylae

Not long ago I finished reading Thermopylae by Paul Cartledge. The subtitle is The Battle that Changed the World. When our local library gets a new book of history I try to get it read in hopes that it will encourage them to expand their non-fiction selections. Cartledge describes the battle between the Spartans and Persia under Xerxes. I haven't seen the movie 300, but it is the battle on which the movie is based.

What I found interesting was in the description of the Spartans as being extremely religious, not something I would have thought about before. Cartledge describes how the Spartans sacrificed animals to examine the entrails to see what the gods were telling them and how they consulted oracles. During the events leading up to the battle, Cartledge describes the many times Sparta's leaders made their decisions based primarily on religous reasons rather than political or strategic factors. I am certainly no expert on Greek history but this did get me to thinking and some questions came to mind.
Do societies with a strong military need to bolster that with religious beliefs? Does the militarism grow out of the religious beliefs, or are the religous beliefs used as a tool to bolster the militarism?
From my perspective the U.S. is a militaristic society. The country spends more on its military than the next several countries combined. Depending on how it is figured, at least half of the national budget is devoted to the military. So the next question I have been thinking about is how religion has been manipulated so that today it seems most evangelical Christians in the US are strong supports of the military and the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Do they just assume like the Spartans did that the gods want us to go to war, or to continue fighting, and since god is on their side the U.S. will "win." The other part of this is to see how the evangelical church has been corrupted. How it has discarded the Jesus of the Sermon on the Mount for a militaristic conquering hero. Or to go back to the Spartans, how all the gods and goddess were portrayed wearing military equipment, even Aphrodite.

germantown and presidential changes

In the Sunday Gazette I read that Barack Obama campaigned in Philadelphia Saturday stopping in four different neighborhoods. Though the Gazette didn't identify Germantown they did say he stopped at Vernon Park. This brought back some memories since Vernon Park was just a short walk from my office and from where we lived. When we needed to do some banking or use some of the other businesses on Chelten Ave. it often meant a walk through Vernon Park. Depending on the time of day there were usually a few guys playing chess, a few guys sleeping, a few guys passed out, the occasional homeless guy rummaging through the garbage cans looking for food, but generally there were folks there just hanging out. Most probably didn't notice or pay too much attention to the large statue placed in the park to commemorate the first thirteen German families to emigrate to North America and to settle what became the Germantown neighborhood.





The story also took me back to 1983, the 300th anniversay of the first permanent German settlement in America. The local historic houses in Germantown had planned a number of activities to remember the anniversary but most of these hadn't met with much success. Some of that was because since the 1950's Germantown had become a predominately African-American community and many Germans or German descendents weren't all that excited about spending time in Germantown.

During the summer we were told President Regean wanted to commemorate the anniversary in some way and that he hoped to schedule some time in Philadelphia including a possible stop in Germantown. Some of the cynics among us figured he might be using the anniversary to pressure the Germans to accept the deployment of Pershing and Cruise missles to "aid their protection from the Soviet Union.

Anyway, a large state level banquet was planned at a Center City hotel and some of us in the historical community were led to believe Regean would visit Germantown. If I remember correctly some suggestions were made of sites the President and the German Chancellor should see including the statue in Vernon Park. The Secret Service began to check into security. I don't think it took long for the Secret Service to decide "it was too dangerous for the President to visit Germantown." We were told it was because security would be difficult to ensure in an outdoor setting, but most of the Germantown folks assumed it was because of racism. The Secret Service just didn't want Regean or any other President going into a predominately black neighborhood. It was all rather irritating










So it was refresing to see Obama visit Germantown and to make a stop at Vernon Park. It is an example of the the change in perspective an Obama presidency might bring, as I doubt McCain or too many other white politicians will be making stops in places like Vernon Park in the middle of Germantown.

random things

It has been nearly a month since my wife moved to Elkhart to continue her seminary degree. It is the first time in my life when I have come close to living by myself. So far I have been surviving. A week ago I drove to Elkhart after school and spent the weekend. We had a nice time, though it didn't help her keep up with her reading. When I went to watch the Iowa football game in the small student lounge I discovered the Canadian students must have chosen the channels. There were numerous stations showing hockey or soccer (which I didn't mind) but the ESPN stations were not among those available. I did figure out how to watch the game on the computer.

Sometimes I wonder about my students. In World History we have been looking at the middle east and spent some time comparing Judaism, Islam and Christianity. This can have some pitfalls because some kids have been taught that Islam is satanic, that it worships a moon god, or that the Qur'an says Muslims should kill Christians. This is in addition to the negative view of most Muslims in our media.

In the midst of this a kid asked about circumcision. Since they are sophomores the boys usually giggle and visibly cringe if this topic is mentioned but one young man winced and then asked, "how do they reproduce?" The kids all got quiet. I suppose they were wondering if I was going to explain circumcision to him or if I would avoid the subject like their parents and Sunday School teachers had apparently done. I explained that when boys are born their penis (giggles) has something called a foreskin, and that circumcision is the word used to describe the process of removing the foreskin. He winced again and asked, "so they don't cut it all off?" I said "no, the Dr. just cuts the foreskin (giggles) from the penis. (more giggles) The next question was a bit shocking as he asked me if he was circumcised. One of the male students quickly said, "I'm sure you're circumcised." I told him I didn't know if he was circumcised or not but that maybe his friend who seemed to know, or his parents could inform him of his status some place other than my classroom. His last question was, "so if I'm circumcised I can still reproduce?" He probably can, but given his intellect, maybe he shouldn't.

In U.S. history I usually have a fair number of students who believe the United States was created by divine intervention and that all of the founding fathers were doing their Christian duty when they instigated the American revolution. This year I typed some excerpts from the Declaration of Independence and Common Sense. On the rest of the page I typed an excerpt from Romans 13 and just referred to it as Document A. I had a few questions for them including one which asked if "Document A" was consistent with the Declaration of Independence. I was disappointed that not one student recognized "Document A" as being from the New Testament. Most assumed it was written by a Loyalist and as such most suggested it should be ignored. Now I know you can argue about the relevance of scripture, but the lack of knowledge about what scripture says is one reason why I think some conservative Christians have bought into the whole myth of God and country. They seem much more content to wield their Bibles has a weapon to hit people over the head, rather than to spend much time actually reading what the scriptures say and mean, (not that I am any kind of expert either) I don't imagine "liberal minded people" know the Bible any better, but at least they aren't trying to use the scriptures as a weapon to threaten and intimidate.

Now that the taxpayers "own" 80 per cent of AIG, does that mean I can get government sponsored health care?

It is hard to not become cynical watching congressional republicans talk about "congressional oversight of the executive..." in the last week with talk of the 700 billion dollar bailout. Where were they during the first six years of the Bush presidency when they seemingly rubber stamped everything Bush wanted?

It is interesting to hear a number of the political pundits talk about the government becoming more socialistic as they talk about the bailout. I don't think I have heard any of them talk about the government becoming more fascist as a result. I think Bush/Cheney would be happy to be dictators.

Apparently I have enough foreign policy experience to become the vice-president. I have visited seven countries (including Canada and Mexico), three or four more than Palin has visited. I have to admit that I can't see any foreign countries from my window, but since I live in a small town, I assume I have some of those all important "small town values," whatever those are.

change

Last Sunday I agreed to teach the class I have been going to because nobody else was willing to and a person who thought he might be willing to teach the class for the year wanted to visit to see what the group was like.

So what does this have to do with change? It has been frustrating to watch McCain and other Republicans talk about change and the change they want to bring to Washington. It seems they want the country to forget Republicans have controlled the Presidency for the last eight years and both houses of Congress six of the last eight years. During that time we were lied to and led into a war, we have had record deficits, the financial world seems to be falling apart and those are just three things I can think of off the top of my head late at night. As far as I'm concerned this President has screwed things up about as bad as any President ever has, but because his cronies controlled Congress until the last two years there were no investigations and very little oversight from the legislative branch. It appears Republican senators were too busy sitting in bathroom stalls (Craig) or lining their pockets (Stevens) to keep tabs on the executive branch.

The Sunday school lesson was about John the Baptist who also called for change. But in looking at those verses it seems clear he was calling for people to make changes in the way they lived their own lives. "If you have two coats share with someone who doesn't have one. Share your food with people who don't have any (a good reason why I should take some peaches from my trees to church tomorrow). John the Baptist goes on to tell the tax collectors to collect only what is required. If the people changed their behavior it would have a significant impact on society, particularly if it was folks like the tax collectors behaving. John the Baptist didn't just tell people he was going to bring change to Jerusalem, he told them they needed to change.

In the afternoon I sort of forced myself to read an article about McCain-Palin and their plans to bring change to Washington. Now I suppose someone could argue that McCain is really serious about all his talk of change. But it seems to me that McCain is really asking very little of the American people other than to forget the last eight years and vote for him, because he is going to change Washington. For all his talk of personal responsibility it doesn't seem as if we need to change anything about the way we do things at an individual level.

Instead he mocks some rather simple suggestions such as checking your tire pressure to make sure your tires are properly inflated. It is a relatively painless thing to do which can improve your gas mileage and extend the life of your tires, somethings I think a good conservative would encourage. But in these days I guess not.

In listening to Obama he also talks alot about bringing change to Washington, but I've also heard him tell parents to turn the tv off and read to kids, to get involved in your local community, or tell us that the transition to renewable sources of energy may be difficult. Still I suppose it is hard for any politician running for office to tell the people he wants to vote for him that they need to make significant changes to their lifestyles. This is where it becomes clear that politicians aren't prophets and probably shouldn't be preachers- Huckabee in particular. Unfortunately there don't seem to be a lot of prophets around these days, just lots of loud, obnoxious, television commentators and all their strategist guests.

Political conventions

Between school starting, moving my wife to Elkhart to start seminary, life has been busy. I've been trying to watch the political conventions but this week listening to the Republicans has been a struggle. Tonight, Romney, Huckabee, and Giuliani and now Phalin have all talked about going to Washington to change the "entrenched elite" the "beltway establishment" and to change the government. It seems they have forgotten that a certain President Bush has been in office for eight years, and that Republicans have controlled Congress for six out of the last eight years.

It was particularly interesting to see Mitt Romney criticize the "eastern elite" and the eastern establishment. I can't imagine too many people who are more eastern elite or establishment than Mitt Romney.

I found Huckabee to be interesting because for the most part his speech was a reworking of the stump speech he used when he campaigned for the Iowa caucus. The Lava soap line got laughs back in December - even from the folks who still use it to bathe. His folksy manner was one reason he won in Iowa.

As for the others talking tonight, Giuliani and Phalin are doing their best to criticize Obama but I am hearing little in the way of what they want to do with this government they criticize but which they want to control. Actually they want to maintain control of the government they seem to detest so much.

Some other comments or questions:
Can the Republicans chant anything besides, "USA, USA,....?"
The crowds at the Republican convention seem to be amazingly white.
I think the Republicans are better at being mean than most Democrats. Karl Rove, Cheney, and earlier Atwater come to mind. I am sure Carville and other Democrats can be jerks but they do not seem to be quite in the same league of meanness.
I always wonder what it is that conservatives want to conserve. Let's drill for oil everywhere, build nuclear powerplants, lay pipelines, the environment be damned. Then there is the constitution and the way our civil liberties and privacy have been infringed during the Bush presidency.
Can the Republicans chant anything other than "USA, USA....?"
Do the Republicans consider George W Bush to be a Republican president or do they just skip back to Reagan?

And finally I want to thank John Stewart for helping cure the nausea which had been settling into my stomach after I sat through the convention speeches this evening.

Home demolitions

A year ago I was with a Christian Peacemaker Team delegation traveling through the West Bank. It was deeply disturbing to see the separation wall and the conditions many Palestinians were forced to live under. A week ago a story on NPR's morning edition brought back some of these memories as it described how the Israeli Defense Force had demolished a building providing housing for four Palestinian families. The reason given for the demolition was that the "proper permits had not been obtained." What is often left unsaid, but which NPR reported is that it is nearly impossible for Palestinians to get building permits to add on to their existing homes or to build new homes. When a family goes ahead and makes changes to their current house, or builds a new house the response is to demolish the building.













Palestinian home demolished near Bethlehem

One of the groups we met with in Jerusalem was the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions, (ICAHD) According to their website at least 18,000 homes of Palestinians have been demolished since Israel took control of the West Bank.


When I was in the West Bank we saw the remains of several home demolitions. The men in the group spent one night in the home of a Palestinian farmer, a man who can trace the ownership of his farm through his family back to the Ottoman Empire. He told us how has his family grew he wanted to move from his father's home and to build a house for his family. Repeated applications for a building permit were denied for "security reasons." Finally he built a small house in spite of not getting a permit. It was demolished. With the help of ICAHD he rebuilt the house only to have it demolished. Again with the help of ICAHD he was able to obtain a building permit and with the help of Palestinians and Israeli's he was able to build the house where we visited. Though he has the house he still faces harassment from nearby settlers and the Israeli government. When we visited him his water had been shut off by the municipal authorities for two weeks. He was struggling to keep his crops alive while the nearby settlement sported lush green lawns and blooming roses. The night we were there the water came back on and we scrambled to help the family fill all their available buckets before the water stopped again.

In many ways it is frustrating to hear our politicians repeat their strong support for Israel and its policies. At the same time you can hear politicians say, "its the Palestinians responsibility, if they want peace they should give up their claims to the land, renounce violence, and work for a negotiated settlement with Israel. Now I certainly agree that violent means are not helpful, but I find it interesting that the responsibility for making peace is laid at the feet of the weakest of the groups.















Palestinian home near Hebron. Remains of the demolished home are in the foreground.

The wood stove

Yesterday I sold our wood stove. It was a homemade stove, made by the guy who sold us our house. We used it for 17 winters with no problems but the insurance company said it did not meet new regulations. That left us with the choice of remodeling the room the stove was in to give it enough clearance space or removing the stove. As much as I enjoy home repair, remodeling the room was out of the question.

Thursday the “for sale” ad ran in the Kalona News and the Wellman Advance. I really didn’t think anyone would want to buy it and figured I might just have to haul the stove to a scrap dealer and take whatever I could get.

Thursday I left to drive the IMS baseball team to Des Moines for their second round game. Unfortunately they lost and we returned on Friday afternoon. I stepped into the house and heard the phone ringing.

Now think Pennsylvania Dutch accent. “Are you the one who has a wood stove for sale?” “Yes.”

“Could you tell me a little bit about it because I might be interested?” Why else did you call I thought to myself as I noticed my wife had already taken two messages about the stove.

The stove is 30” wide, 36”deep and about 25” high. It is made of 3/8 inch steel, it is homemade, and it is heavy.

In a Dutchy accent, “well, I might be interested, I was thinking about making my own, but then I saw your ad, and well, I thought, maybe I could look at it sometime, and then I wouldn’t have to make my own. Now does it have any cracks?”

No, no cracks (I think a small bomb could have been detonated in the stove without any problems)

“So it’s not warped?” No, it’s in good shape.

“So why are you selling it?” I explained about our insurance company.

“Well, I think I would like to look at it sometime but I don’t know when I can get there” (Neither did I, as I realized I hadn’t used the bathroom since stopping the bus at the Colfax-Mingo exit about 3 hours ago.)

“So where do you live.” I gave directions. “Do your parents live around here?” Yes, (but they aren’t the one’s selling the stove) “Well, I might want to stop over, but I’m not sure when I can make it, but I may chust drive over there tomorrow if you are going to be around and it wouldn’t be too much of a bother.” Finally Nelson hung up.

Fifteen minutes later, another phone call, another Dutchy accent, and more questions about the stove. I figured I better clean the stove because much to my surprise people seem to be interested in the thing. Six buckets of ashes later the stove was more or less clean. I thought I better figure out how to dismantle the stove from the stove pipe and discovered the pipe was welded to the stove. I crawled onto the roof and pulled apart what I could. What remained looked like one solid piece all the way to the stove, some 12 to 15 feet. I realized it might require a cutting torch or some other tool I don’t own, so I called a friend who has such things and left a message. In the meantime more phone calls from men, all with the Dutchy accent and with names like Samuel, Nelson, Menno, or Norman.

6:30 Saturday morning the phone rang. I was still asleep. “Do you have the stove for sale?” I figured this guy was Amish, especially after he told me he had a ride to Wellman to visit the chiropractor. Samuel said he planned to stop in after his treatment, around 9:15 or so.

An hour later my friend with the cutting torch arrived. The question was how to cut the pipe and hold it in place so it wouldn’t drop to the floor and hurt someone or break something. While a crane would be nice I couldn't afford one. We resorted to 2 x 4’s and rope backed up by a log chain.

Another phone call about the stove and if we still had it. My wife told him someone was coming around 9:15. This guy asked if it would be okay to come right away. Wayne Ray showed up about 20 minutes later, a bit before 9:00. I had guessed he was a Beachy, or some sort of conservative Mennonite so I wasn't surprised to see his wife in a cape dress with a big covering on her head. After a thorough examination Wayne Ray said, “I think I would like the stove, but would you be willing to consider taking a little less?” I was about ready to answer when the doorbell rang and there was Samuel the Amish man, “Have you sold the stove yet?” Wayne Ray said, “I’ll give what you asked for.” I suppose I could have asked Samuel if he would raise the price but I was just happy to be rid of it, plus Wayne had a truck to move the stove.

What followed was some hard work as I recruited my neighbor, Wayne called his brother-in-law, and along with my cutting torch friend, we got the stove out of the house and onto his truck. He had a forklift at home he could use to unload the stove.

It took me the rest of the day to clean up the mess and to patch the roof so it won’t leak. The next task is to find a wood stove which meets the regulations so that we can heat that part of the house and keep the insurance company happy.

camp

Camp

I spent my first week at camp last week. I never went to camp as a kid though one summer I did go to three different Bible Schools to help keep me out of my parent’s hair. Crooked Creek Christian Camp called my wife to see if she was interested in being a camp pastor for a week. It only took her about thirty seconds to say no. They asked if she knew of someone who might be willing to do it, and about that time I walked into the room. After getting some information I couldn’t come up with a good reason to say no. I eventually agreed to be the “camp pastor” for the 7^th-9^th grade camp.

On the drive to Crooked Creek last Sunday I realized I was more apprehensive about going to the camp then I was going on the CPT trip to the West Bank last summer. It probably didn’t help that numerous people would ask if I was the Marcus Miller who was going to be the camp pastor. When I would reply in the affirmative the most common response was laughter. Not sure what that says about me, or people’s perception of me.

I did ask one person if they thought it would be the jazz guitarist showing up and I was reminded that most people around here have no idea who that Marcus Miller is. If I knew what I was doing with the internet I could embed a link to his website - and actually I do enjoy much of his music.

The week seemed to go well though I imagine my contributions to the week will likely be fairly low on the list of camp memories. I was responsible for a morning chapel, an evening campfire and was to prepare a list of discussion questions and verses for the evening devotions the cabin counselors were to lead with their kids. It was one of those situations where I likely learned as much as the kids did. One thing I learned is that I couldn’t rely on notes for the campfire session, as the flashlight seemed to detract from the setting. Either that or the light reflected off my face in a way which scared some kids or made others laugh.

It was gratifying to see a lot of former students running much of the week’s program. All but three of the cabin counselors were IMS grads as were the program staff. I was impressed with their creativity, patience, and energy level. By the end of the week I was tired though I had my own little cabin where I could escape to and get some rest or sleep when I needed. I even made it for a week without any newspapers, NPR or the internet.

Mennonites and family reunions

Back from a family reunion on my wife's side and a trip to Philadelphia where we lived for ten years from 1980 to 1990. Spending time with the Peachey's in Belleville and then friends from Philadelphia, we experienced two extremes of the Mennonite Church. It seems folks from both groups are leaving the Mennonite Church or are talking about doing so, but for different reasons.

The Peachey reunion included Mennonites, and Peachey's who have joined the Nazarene's, Brethren in Christ, Assemblies of God, Presbyterians, or some large non-denominational church. Thirty to forty years ago this extended family would have all been Mennonite, sending their kids to Rosedale, or maybe to Eastern Mennonite, though Goshen would have been considered too "liberal." Now, the number of Menno's in the family are outnumbered by the non-Menno's. It was disheartening when one family described their pride in their grandson who had just joined the military because “God spoke to him and helped remove some of the hurdles to joining he was experiencing.”

It was the first time I had seen some of these people since my CPT trip to the West Bank last summer. Generally people ask questions and we have a nice discussion. This time it felt more like an attack. Some of the Peachey's consider themselves to be experts in Biblical prophecy (though they humbly add, certainly not on the same level as Grandpa or his brother when they were alive) so the line I kept hearing over and over during the weekend was "The creation of Israel is the fulfillment of prophecy." This was followed by "The Palestinians should just leave." I told them about some of the Palestinian Christians I met which seemed to cause some cognitive dissonance especially when I told them one Palestinian we met with could trace his families faith back to Pentecost.

I enjoy a good argument as much as anyone so at least I found a way to entertain myself at what was otherwise a rather sleepy reunion.

From Belleville we drove east stopping in Lancaster County and then making our way into Philadelphia. We spent one night with some friends from our days in Germantown and with some folks from the "early days" of the Germantown Mennonite congregation. "Early days" refers to the early 1980's - not the 1680's when the first Menno's came to the area. There was good food, good wine, and excellent Scotch. It was enjoyable catching up with everyone and reminiscing a bit about our time together.

Like some of the Peachey’s, some of these folks no longer go to a Mennonite Church. Instead of the large non-denominational groups, the Germantown folks are more likely to join an Episcopalian church, become Catholic, a high church Presbyterian congregation or go the silent route and join the Quakers.

Then there are folks we heard about from both groups who are dropping out of church all together. They spend Sunday mornings reading the paper, drinking coffee, going for a bike ride, or I suppose sleeping.

Those from Belleville said the Mennonite church is too liberal. From our discussions it seemed they took most of their cues from the local Christian radio station, Rush Limbaugh, James Dobson and other politically conservative preacher/politicians/entertainers. I don’t know much about Mennonite churches in “Big Valley” but they were described as too traditional in worship styles, too stuck in their ways, and not interested in reaching out.

The folks from Germantown listen to NPR, some might not know who Limbaugh is, and don’t like Dobson. They might also describe the church as too traditional (think women leadership – not worship styles), stuck in their ways, and not interested in reaching out – especially to gays.

I realize these may be two extremes and that there is a lot of room in between but the difference between the folks in Belleville and those in Philadelphia seemed much more than the 4-5 hour drive. And I realize there are similarities between the two, but frankly they are minimal. In the tradition of Anabaptism perhaps some “third way” will emerge to keep the two extremes together. It did help me appreciate my church, which though it has its faults, has many good people trying to live together in faithful ways.

iowa floods

While watching some of the flood coverage on the local news the anchor woman said the University of Iowa was telling "non-essential employee's to stay home." Some questions came to mind, what must it feel like to be considered a non-essential employee and to be told to stay home? Why does the University of Iowa have non-essential employee's anyway? If you are a non-essential employee should you worry about having a job when the flood waters recede? Considering the situation, is it the Professor of English who was non-essential or the maintenance worker? If the maintenance worker is the one who is essential in this case, is that somehow reflected in the pay scale?

Wellman has been unaffected for the most part by the flooding. Wellman traces its history to a town called Wassonville built along the English River. The town moved south to the top of a hill after Wassonville was flooded several times in the mid-1800's. If the town was still there it would be flooded because the English River is well out of its banks.

tornado clean up

What happens when a tornado hits 80,000 chickens? I've been trying to think of a witty, funny answer since this afternoon. So far though nothing has come to mind.

This morning I rode up to the New Hartford, Parkersburg, Iowa area as part of a Mennonite Disaster Service group to help clean up from the E5 tornado which hit about a week and a half ago. We spent the morning cleaning a timber near New Hartford which had the remains of a house or two scattered through all the broken trees and branches. We didn't find much of personal or sentimental value and spent most of the time making piles of burnable items, metal and plastic.

At noon we went to the New Hartford fire station where the Red Cross and local community members fed volunteers. After lunch we went back to the timber but after a phone call, the van I was in was sent over to a farm near Dunkerton. The site consisted of a couple of houses and two large chicken houses. The folks in charge were interested in having us go through the remains of a chicken house which had contained 80,000 caged hens. We were to find and remove as many live chickens as we could.

The not funny answer to the question, what happens when a tornado hits a chicken house is that lots of chickens die, when their cages are smashed. The smell was horrendous but thankfully my sinuses clogged and my sense of smell disappeared. The fifteen of us picked our way through the cages, cutting through the wire cages and extracting chickens which had been without food or water for a week and a half. Most of the chickens seemed grateful to be freed but some made a bit of a fuss when you tried to pull them out. The grossest one for me was when I pulled on a chicken I thought was still alive, only to find it wasn't. Instead it pulled apart and the inside was covered with maggots. There was a live chicken behind it so I reached back in and grabbed while avoiding the maggots.

By 5:00 pm we weren't finding many more live chickens so we tried to clean up a bit and crawled back in our van. We all smelled so we decided to not ruin a restaurant and to just head home.

I thought about taking my camera along but decided not to. We saw a number of foundations sitting empty. All that remained of the house was a debris field with pieces of the house broken into small bits. We drove by a cemetery where almost all the stones had been knocked over, saw a large road grader sitting upside down, numerous smashed cars, ripped up roofs and damaged cars. It was a huge mess and it will take a long while till it is cleaned and even longer until life returns to normal - whatever normal is.

In spite of the stench, the dead chickens, it was overall an enjoyable day, working with some fun guys to try and help some folks.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day came and went and with it the common refrain, “we need to remember the men who died so that we can live in freedom.” It’s a line I often hear from students and over time it has come to bother me. I don’t mean any disrespect to people who served, but I don’t believe any soldier died so that I can live in what people describe as freedom.

I’m guessing most of the people who repeat the line, at least in this country, would say they agree with the Declaration of Independence (even if most U.S. citizens haven’t read it). “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The way I read this, if you agree with the line, people are free regardless of what a government may say, or how many soldiers may have died.

More troubling is when I hear self-described Christians repeat the line. I’m no theologian, or philosopher for that matter, but from my limited understanding, if anyone died for my freedom, it was Jesus. I know there are discussions about a nonviolent atonement which I should probably read more about. I know there are all kinds of discussions about what it means to be free, but frankly, right now I feel free to not read them. I would say that most of us either consciously or unconsciously accept too many restrictions on our freedom whether its in the form of our government, our church, our advertisers and media who let us know what the current trends are.

I tell my students I think my grandpa’s brother who refused to put on a uniform during World War I and spent most of that war in Fort Leavenworth, that my grandpa who went to Poland after the war to do relief work, my uncles who served in PAX or Civilian Public Service rather than put on a uniform, or my dad who worked in a hospital in Evanston during the Korean war did more to keep people free in this country. I like to throw the civil rights workers in the mix as well because they put their bodies and beliefs on the line and called this country to try to live up to its stated ideals.

If people aren’t willing to take unpopular positions, does our so called freedom of speech mean anything? Do we really have a right to free expression if we muzzle ourselves so we fit in?

soccer season

The soccer season came to an end with our first district game against Cedar Rapids Xavier. The boys played well- I couldn't have asked for much more effort- but the game ended with a 3-0 score. The game was closer than the score indicates as two of their goals were the result of penalty kicks, including one in the first five minutes. Both penalties in my humble opinion were horrible calls. Xavier had one player whose main task seemed to be to fall over when ever he got near the ball inside the eighteen. Xavier played their second round on our field Saturday, and I saw him in action again. The kid should have got an "Oscar" on his one dive which resulted in another pk. The official in the second game seemed to catch on to his acting ability as he would holler "play on" followed by lots of whining.

So the season came to an end with a 13-2 record and one of the highest scoring offenses in IMS soccer history. With the exception of two games, we played our season in a three week time period. Because of all the rain early in the season we had numerous postponements. When the weather finally cooperated we were playing 4-6 games a week.

The seniors graduated this weekend and the rest of the students are done Thursday. Then perhaps there will be more time for this.

soccer, the constitution, and the Iowa High School Athletic Association

At the beginning of the soccer season in Iowa, the Iowa High School Athletic Association (IAHSAA) puts together the districts and sub-state brackets and places them on their web site. The teams are grouped geographically and their is no seeding done so it is always a bit of a mystery to see where and who you might play. The last two years we have had to travel to Fort Madison a trip which takes a good two hours in a school bus. After our season ended last year I wrote a letter to the IAHSAA to express my frustration with the situation.

If anybody cares to read the letter it follows. If you don't want to read it all I made the argument that they were acting unconstitutionally by not allowing us to host district games because we do not have a flag or play the national anthem. In return I got a letter from Mr. Anderson basically telling me they wouldn't talk to me about the flag issue. After they realized the school hadn't hired a lawyer they basically ignored the school as well.

So it was sort of a surprise when the IAHSAA called this spring to ask if we would be willing to host a district game even if we didn't have a flag. It also wasn't much of a surprise when we saw the team we would get to play, Cedar Rapids Xavier, generally one of the best teams in the state.My guess its the IAHSAA's way of saying "you made your point, now we'll make ours." I just hope we can make it interesting.

June 4, 2007

Mr. David Anderson, Assistant Executive Director
Iowa High School Athletic Association

Mr. Richard Wulkow, Executive Director
Iowa High School Athletic Association
P.O. Box 10
Boone, IA 50036

Mr. Anderson and Mr. Wulkow,

I am the soccer coach at Iowa Mennonite School and after our season ended I thought it appropriate to share three concerns with you.

First, it is my understanding that Iowa Mennonite School is not allowed to host any district or substate games because the school does not perform the national anthem prior to games. Because of this, IMS teams participating in post season play have had to travel. In the case of the soccer team we made two trips to Fort Madison, a trip which in a school bus requires that we allocate 2 hours of travel time.

I am not a constitutional lawyer, but a quick perusal of Supreme Court cases suggests that any organization, particularly one described as a “State Association,” cannot compel or penalize anyone, or any group, for refusing to participate in practices designed to promote patriotism, such as the Pledge of Allegiance or the national anthem. In West Virginia State Board of Education v Barnette, 1943 the Supreme Court over turned a state law which required all students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. To quote Justice Jackson who authored the majority decision,

“To believe that patriotism will not flourish if patriotic ceremonies are voluntary and spontaneous instead of a compulsory routine is to make an unflattering estimate of the appeal of our institutions to free minds. We can have intellectual individualism [319 U.S. 624, 642] and the rich cultural diversities that we owe to exceptional minds only at the price of occasional eccentricity and abnormal attitudes. When they are so harmless to others or to the State as those we deal with here, the price is not too great. But freedom to differ is not limited to things that do not matter much. That would be a mere shadow of freedom. The test of its substance is the right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order.”

I would encourage you to note the phrase, “voluntary and spontaneous instead of compulsory…” Jackson adds,

"[i]f there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein."

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=319&invol=624 also see http://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1949/1942/1942_591/

More recent cases decided in Federal District courts seem to me to affirm the Courts decision in West Virginia v Barnette. This would include Lane v. Owens, 2003 and Holloman v Walker County Board of Education, 2004. In both these cases the idea that a school board or State could compel people to participate in patriotic rituals and then punish them in any way was denied.

I realize these cases deal with the Pledge of Allegiance rather than the national anthem but the purpose of both seems to be the same. One of the great things about the United States is that it has a form of government which allows for freedom of expression, even when that expression is not popular. At the same time our constitution also provides the freedom to not participate in certain forms of expression. To force people to participate in patriotic rituals makes a mockery of both patriotism and the principles espoused in our constitution. If we have freedom of speech, but no one dares to say anything unpopular, do we still have freedom of speech?

Mennonites as a group have at times taken positions which are unpopular because of their religious faith. They were among the first religious groups to advocate for the separation of church and state in 1525, and many of them were put to death by both religious and state authorities in the years that followed.

When the United States was founded, the idea that church and state should be separate was enshrined in the first amendment to the constitution. An idea which had at one time been unthinkable now became part of the guiding document which lays out the foundations of our government.

The school’s practice of not performing the national anthem is not done out of disrespect for this country. While it may be seen that way by some, I would argue that we Mennonites are being true to both our religious values and at the same time expressing one of the highest forms of patriotism. In the face of criticism we are willing to call our country to live up to the high ideals it expresses, the importance of the individual, and the right of individuals to express them selves, even when the idea is unpopular. In doing this we follow in a long tradition of dissent and civil disobedience, dating back to those who signed the Declaration of Independence and in so doing broke the laws of their day.

To summarize my first concern, I would argue that the position taken by your organization is unconstitutional and as such it should be changed.

My second concern is related to the first. If you are going to require schools to perform the national anthem prior to district and substate games I would argue that this should be done in a way which shows consistency and respect.

This year we played our first district game against Mid-Prairie in Wellman. The fields are nice and it is only a fifteen minute bus ride, but they did not have a flag and the national anthem was not performed. Last year when we played district games in Mount Pleasant, we had a similar experience as the national anthem was not performed nor do I recall a flag being present.

If the national anthem is so important to perform prior to a district or state athletic event that our school is penalized by not being allowed to host games, why are sites chosen for games where it cannot be performed or flags are not present?

I am frankly more troubled by the situation at Fort Madison and have included pictures taken by one of our athlete’s parents as evidence. Though there was a large flagpole at the end of the field, there was no flag present on this pole. Instead we were directed to look at the flag by the school, some distance away. If the tree had been fully leafed out I doubt the flag would have been visible. When the national anthem was played it was a scratchy recording that did little to stir patriotic fervor.

This was a common experience during the season. One school brought a flag out mounted on what appeared to be a pvc pipe rather than using the stationary flagpole at their field. When the winds blew, the pvc bent and there were times when the flag came in contact with the ground. During the season the one school which handled the national anthem in a dignified way was Columbus (Columbus Jct.). They made use of their regular flagpole and had a student sing the anthem. She did a beautiful job. It was much better than the many recordings I’ve heard played over poor sound systems.

I would ask which shows more respect? Choosing to not display a flag because of one’s religious beliefs and in doing so practicing the freedoms espoused by our country, or not putting up a flag on the flag pole at the field because, maybe it was too much bother, or maybe they just didn’t get around to it?

My third concern has to do with the size of the fields we had to play on, particularly the field at Fort Madison. Our home field is 67 yards wide, that at Mid-Prairie is 70 yards. Then we traveled to Fort Madison to play on a field that according to the officiating crew is 54 yards wide. I think the article from the Fort Madison Daily Democrat summarized it well when they wrote, “In contrast to the physical play of last Saturday’s FMHS opponent, Keokuk, Iowa Mennonite was more a finesse team.”

I know you are trying to clean up the rough play and unsporting conduct too often found in soccer. I would argue that one easy way to do this is to encourage schools to play on fields which are at least 65 yards wide. By not assigning district and substate games to fields which are less than 65 yards, I think you would be helping both soccer, and you would encourage schools to improve their facilities. As I reflect on our season, the roughest and most physical games we played were on the smaller fields.

I wouldn’t mind the two hour trip if we had the opportunity to play on a full size field but to travel that far to play on a very narrow field was not enjoyable. The narrow field had a detrimental affect on my teams play in both games we played at Fort Madison, the one we won against Fairfield and the one we lost to Fort Madison.

One could argue that teams should be able to adapt to different sizes of fields and differing conditions, but imagine what would happen if a basketball team showed up to discover the rims were at 11 feet or maybe just 9 feet, or the football team found the football field was going to be 120 yards long and 65 yards wide. We don’t expect this to happen and for soccer to be taken seriously, I would suggest that your association adopt minimum standards for a soccer field. As a start I would encourage you to choose to assign district and substate games to sites where the fields will be similar in size to those played on at the State tournament.

Thank you for your patience in reading this and for your efforts to provide quality activities for the young people of Iowa.

Marcus Miller

Mennonites and "Fiddler on the Roof"

The school musical this year is "Fiddler on the Roof. " The director asked if I would write something for the program to help some folks understand how the story might connect with Mennonites. This is what I came up with. The faculty and our families were able to watch the dress rehearsal and the kids did a wonderful job. I would encourage anyone to see it, but I think both performances are sold out.

"Fiddler on the Roof" tells a story to which Mennonites should easily relate. At its most basic level it is a story similar to the one faced by our Mennonite ancestors in 16^th and 17^th century Europe. Facing persecution because of their religious beliefs advocating believer’s baptism, separation of church and state, and nonresistance, Mennonites sought peace in the rural agricultural villages of Europe. Hoping to practice their faith without fear of losing their homes or their lives, Mennonites, became “the Quiet in the Land.” For many Mennonites their identity became closely tied to the land.

Just as Tevye, his family, and his fellow Jews, experienced persecution because of their beliefs and ethnic identity, Mennonites experienced persecution and faced similar choices. What does it mean to leave a place, as miserable as it might be, when your identity is bound up in that place? Though the villagers say, “Someone should have set a match to this place years ago.” They go on to ask, “Where else could Sabbath be so sweet?” Mennonites could have sang much the same as they left the Swiss cantons, or the war-torn Alsace-Lorraine for North America, while Mennonites from other parts of Europe moved to Russia.

In both Russia and North America, religious beliefs became intricately tied to cultural identity. To be Mennonite or Amish in colonial Pennsylvania meant that one spoke German, dressed in a particular way, and conducted themselves in ways approved by the community. Ties to this new land grew strong and deep as Mennonite and Amish farmers tilled the soil. Their farms became the basis for strong rural communities and churches across the United States in places like Lancaster, Holmes County, Goshen, Berne, and Kalona.

The story in "Fiddler on the Roof" can also help those of us who are Mennonites think about what it means to be Mennonite as the story addresses questions of tradition, change, and faith. Occasionally I ask my Mennonite students if they have ever felt different because they are Mennonite. Often they are puzzled by the question. “Why should I feel different because I’m a Mennonite,” they ask. Mennonites of an earlier generation who grew up with coverings, cape dresses and plain coats might respond, “how could you not feel different?”

Steeped in the traditions of his faith and his village Teyve knows his place in society and he knows what is expected of him. Tevye’s traditions and beliefs are challenged as his daughters find their own mates rather than relying on the matchmaker. How far can he go in accepting change and at the same time remain faithful to his religious values and those of his community?

Mennonites in southeast Iowa face similar questions of faith and identity. What happens when the traditions are challenged? Coverings, cape dresses, and plain coats have been laid aside by the vast majority of Mennonites. Many found it liberating and most of us would not want to go back, but what does it mean for our religious identity when we are not so visibly different from those around us? As Tevye asks, “One little time you pull out a prop, and where does it stop? Where does it stop?”

What happens when the family farm is sold and the sons and daughters who grew up on the land, move to the city “far from the home I love?”

Is it our faith or our identity which is affected when we give up four part a cappella singing for the more contemporary sounds of guitars, drums and praise songs?

Even this place, Iowa Mennonite School was built, in part to preserve Mennonite identity in the face of rapid social change brought on by World War II. As we begin to look more like those around us, will we be tempted to give up more foundational beliefs of our identity and faith, such as nonresistance, which have defined us for over 450 years to avoid the embarrassment of being different.

Can we sing to our children, “Strengthen them, Oh Lord, and keep them from the strangers’ ways,” knowing that in doing so we are asking our children to make a conscious decision to accept our traditions, our faith and our identity, as flawed as they may be, and to make them their own.

These questions are not easily answered but it is, I believe important for us to ask them as we seek to remain faithful.

class trip - turning 50

From March 11 through March 16 I was part of the senior class trip to Washington DC. I think I have finally recovered from the sleep I missed while the bus traveled through the night. The students had free time to see the memorials and the museums and several scheduled activities including visits to the White House, the Capital, Mt. Vernon, the Aquarium in Baltimore, the Holocaust Museum, tours of the National Cathedral and the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, a visit with Coleman McCarthy, and a stop at the Mennonite Guest House to see our former principal, Wilbur Yoder and his wife. We also saw a play, "Piano Lesson" by August Wilson at the the Kennedy Center.

When I get ready to go along on this trip I often wonder if it is worthwhile. During the trip I realize the majority of our students have not been to D.C. before, some have not been to the east coast, and most would not willingly visit the cathedrals, or see a performance at the Kennedy Center.

When I visit D.C. I am always reminded how obnoxious the security has become. Here in the cornfields of Iowa I don't run into a lot of security issues. When we visited Senator Grassley we went to meet him at the Hart Senate office building. To get in we had to go through metal detectors, empty our pockets, some people had to take off their shoes, and I was scolded when I failed to take off my belt, and its not like I was wearing a big cowboy belt buckle. The last time I had to take off my belt and submit to the detection wand being waved around my body I was in Hebron, going with the CPT delegation to visit the Ibrahimi mosque.

After spending some time with Senator Grassley we went from his office to the Capitol. We were inside the entire time and yet we had to go through security once more. After a bit of a tour we went up to see if we could get into the Senate gallery. Once again we went through security and this time I was asked to take off my belt. After all the students made it through security where a few lost their hand lotion and chap stick we were ushered into the gallery. I found it rather enjoyable because many of the Senators were actually on the floor. We heard brief speeches by Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell, and Ted Kennedy among others. Some of the kids saw Obama, Clinton and McCain which they thought was cool.

What puzzled me was that only about an eighth of the Senate gallery was full. The rest of the seats were empty. Yet when we left after watching for about 45 minutes, there was a huge line of people waiting to get into the gallery. If the building is to be our capital, why should citizens be forced to wait in long lines when there were plenty of seats available? If you subtract the press area, at least 3/4's of the gallery was empty. It sort of ticked me off because the year before I was one of those people waiting in the long line and by the time they let us in to the chambers, after waiting over an hour or more, there was nothing going on as the Senate had adjourned.

The visit with Coleman McCarthy probably provoked the most conversation among students. He talked about the classes he teaches on peacemaking. Then he stirred things up a bit when he said the first step in peacemaking is to "not eat anything that has a mother." If I understood him correctly he would fit into the vegan category. So we had this guy advocating vegetarianism to kids from a State which has more pigs than people, and to kids, some of whose parents raise beef and hogs for a living. It made for a lively discussion which was fun to observe- though some of the kids were shy and saved their questions and comments for the sponsors when we got back to the bus.

On the 14th I turned 50 and the kids had fun with that. I endured numerous rounds of "happy birthday" and received a couple of gifts- a self-exam prostate kit, and a mug which said "I lean left" and was made so it does lean to the left. Back at the hotel the kids surprised me with a cake. I should have been more suspicious but I was tired and just happy that at the time the kids seemed quiet. All in all it wasn't the worst way to spend one's 50th birthday.

coaching clinic

I spent a day in Lincoln, Nebraska attending a soccer coaching clinic sponsored by the University of Nebraska and the state coaching association. It has been a while since I have made it to a coaching clinic and it was the first time I went to one in Nebraska so I wasn't sure quite what to expect.

The last time I went to a clinic I was one of the few not wearing what seemed to be the uniform for soccer coaches - Adidas Samba's or Copa Mundial's for your feet, warm up pants and jacket made primarily from polyester or some sort of nylon, preferably with an Adidas logo, though Diadora and Umbro will suffice. Listening to the swish swish noise the clothes make as coaches walked by reminded me of the days when my son was in day care and all his buddies wore what they called "slicks." Part of the fun seemed to be to see how much noise they could make. It isn't quite as endearing when it is 30 to 40 year old men wearing them. There weren't quite as many coaches at the Nebraska clinic wearing this outfit but all the red "N's" on almost any article of clothing made up for it, I suppose.

The sessions were held in the new indoor practice facility built primarily for the football team, at least that is how the turf field was marked. For the most part the sessions were helpful and I was glad to be there. The trick is to take those things I think will be helpful for my team and to teach it to my players.

Monday, March 10 was the first day we could legally practice. There was still a foot of snow on the ground so I had about half the guys come in early in the morning before school and the other half, after school. It seemed to work all right, though I don't enjoy morning practices. Tuesday I left for class trip with the seniors and my assistant ran practices for the underclassman. Our first game is March 31 and we certainly have some work to do before then.