"The light shined in darkness and the darkness could not overcome it."

May the miracle of Christmas

Find you safe in the peace of God

and warm in the Light of Christ.

Asafoetida

   Powwowing was part of the medieval tradition which German immigrants from the Rhineland and Switzerland brought with them when they came to the New World in the seventeenth century and later. What we call powwow is called brauche in the German language. The formula (eg. incantations) in use since the time before the Reformation included many Christian elements of a Roman Catholic variety. Powwowing is white magic.

   The "Church" (Lutheran and Reformed) and "Plain" (Amish and Mennonite) people who resorted to this practice did so not in antagonism to regular physicians but rather in addition to them. The traditional ways seemed more utilitarian and less costly, more practical and less theoretical than the newer, less personal, and (to their traditional mindset) less proven than the ways of the powwow healer.   

    Powwowing is difficult to define clearly because of the overlap and/or combinations of factors and ingredients which are mingled in the pursuit of folk healing cures. The "home remedies" of our ancestors utilized herbal and other ingredients believed to have a specifically corrective and healing effect. Some people in every generation look favorably on unconventional cures, perhaps because of their confidence in local persons like themselves and a resistance to the fees of the scientific professionals.  (Gerald C. Studer, Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage, July 1980)

   I learned something new over the weekend about one of these mixed practices. The little bags in the frame below were worn around the necks of children to "keep them healthy." The bag contained a piece of asafoteida, an oleo gum resin obtained from the rhizome and root of a plant.  

     Asafoetida has a fetid smell and a nauseating taste; characteristics that also burdened it with the name devil's dung. In the Middle Ages, a small piece of the gum was worn around the neck to ward off diseases such as colds and fevers. Whatever effectiveness it had was probably due to the antisocial properties of the amulet rather than any medicinal virtue.

https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-248/asafoetida

   The man who displayed these artifacts told us his grandfather wore one of these smelly little asafoetida bags. So the practice was carried down by Mennonites from the Middle Ages into the nineteenth century. Did his mother believe it had medicinal value or was it a charm? Whatever her reasons, if it worked at all it was (as the paragraph above says) because the smell kept people and their germs at a distance.

   While there are some natural remedies that are beneficial, we do well to consider the source of any alternative medicine before accepting it. What appears to be folk or natural medicine may be rooted in white magic. As Christians, we cannot have any part in such things. 

Suffering and Humility

   New Testament Christians embraced suffering and martyrdom as natural because of the martyrdom of Jesus. Throughout church history there have always been groups of devout Christians who revived the New Testament view of suffering. Sixteenth-century Anabaptists were one of these groups.

   For the Anabaptists suffering was:

(1) being in Christ. They could sing as they went to their executions, expressing joy to be worthy of participating with Christ in suffering.

(2) redemptive. It led them to a complete identification with Christ, not only in his suffering and death but also in resurrection with Him.  It was a sign of genuinely belonging to Christ.

(3) disciplinary. It turned the Christian toward obedience to Christ and the fellowship of believers.

(4)  inevitable. "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12).

   Anabaptists were persecuted from their beginning  in 1525 until they emigrated to America in the early 1700s. For roughly 200 years, Anabaptists held this theology of suffering as the mark of genuine faith.

   After Mennonites settled in America,  they experienced a freedom of worship they had never known before. The kind of physical persecution they suffered in Europe no longer existed. The suffering theology was not as relevant in a free country and it shifted to humility as the mark of genuine faith. This was especially clear in Address to Youth, written by Christian Burkholder in 1792. He wrote that the Christ in the manger was "an example to us of true humility" and called the earnest seeker to follow the "meek and lowly" Jesus in practical ways in everyday life. 

   Humility theology was very relevant to American Mennonites in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In 1866, Bishop John M. Brenneman wrote a small booklet, Pride and humility, spelling out how humility should express itself objectively: in plainness of furniture, buildings and attire, in accepting a modest position at table, and in other visible and practical ways of everyday life. For the second 200 years of Anabaptism, Mennonites held to the principles of humility and meekness as the visible expressions of genuine discipleship. "By their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:20).

   After World War II ended, Mennonites became more prosperous than ever. Plainness and simplicity faded as Mennonites became increasingly assimilated into the American culture. Homes became more elaborate, clothing more worldly, and men transitioned from farming to big business.

   In summary, for 200 years the Anabaptists in Europe had a theology of suffering as the mark of genuine faith. The next  200 years the Mennonites in America shifted to a humility theology. That brings us up to roughly 1920.What one word would you use to describe Mennonites from 1920 to today? I have been asking various ordained men that question and no one has come up with an solid answer. If you have a one-word answer I'd be glad to hear it.

Thanksgiving

This week we will observe another Thanksgiving Day. It's a week later than usual this year because November 1 was on a Friday. That moves Thanksgiving a week closer to Christmas.

We usually think of Thanksgiving as a day to thank God for all the good things we have. That is right and good. But last week I read something that made me think a different way about giving thanks. It said something to the effect that we should be thankful for the good things we have and the problems we don't have. 

Here is a short list of problems I'm thankful I don't have:

• I'm not a widow
• None of my children have ever been in jail
• My car isn't wrecked (although I came close to doing that last week)
• I don't have a terminal illness
• I don't have debts to pay
• I don't have to wonder where my next meal will come from
• I'm not a refugee
• My husband is not a wife beater or child abuser
• I don't have any enemies (if anybody is mad at me I'm too dumb to know it)
• I'm not deaf or blind
• I don't need an oxygen tank
• I don't have to worry about where I will go when I die

The list could go on and on. For everything I have that I'm thankful for, there is a problem I'm thankful I don't have.  Everything we have is a gift from God and every problem we don't have is an act of His mercy.

Senior Moments

Two years ago I was asked to contribute some devotionals for a book Christian Light wanted to publish for seniors. They wanted seniors to write devotionals for seniors. The first thought that went through my head was the title should be Senior Moments With God. I sent them ten devotionals which were accepted. I had not heard anything about it for a long time. I thought about it Monday, wondering if it was ever finished. Lo and behold! The next day a package arrived with a complimentary copy of the book. And they used my title idea!

The book contains 101 devotionals by sixteen writers. They discuss issues seniors deal with in daily life--failing health, death, discouragement, disappointment, etc. The devotionals share personal experiences and offer hope and encouragement to seniors. Reaching the golden years is not easy street. We will struggle as long as we live on earth. But there is hope and a promise of a better life beyond the sunset. 

This book would be a good gift for a senior's birthday or Christmas gift. It can be ordered online from Christian Light. 

https://www.clp.org/search/results?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=senior&x=0&y=0

Rules for Writing

This is not as funny as it seems. I am appalled at some of the mistakes I see in newspapers and other printed material. One of my pet peeves is getting an invitation that says "Your Invited." Even worse is "Yous are invited." I want to ask, "Where did you go to school?"

Forgiveness

Over the time of our fall communion the beginning of this month I was amazed anew as I contemplated the magnitude of forgiveness. We who were raised in Christian homes were taught from childhood that if we confess our sins God will forgive us. You know the old saying, "Familiarity breeds contempt." It's not that we scorn God's forgiveness but that we take it for granted and don't recognize the true value of forgiveness.

All other religions require man to perform certain rituals or works to gain favor with their god and  have a better afterlife whether in another world or in the next (imagined) life on earth. Their god must be appeased to achieve a higher state of existence but forgiveness is not part of the plan. It is a works religion where the better afterlife is a reward for doing certain things.

Christianity is the only religion where God reaches out to man in love and draws him to Himself. In the Old Testament there was atonement for sin by sacrificing animals. But the blood of animals "could not take away" or forgive sins. The possibility of forgiveness only became reality when God sacrificed His only Son by a horrible death on a cross. His perfect blood was the medium required to make forgiveness possible. Forgiveness is not obtained by our own works but by the work of God Himself. It is a gift He offers to anyone who will accept it. 

Forgiveness removes the burden of guilt and shame that is the result of sin. Imagine how life would be if there was no forgiveness and we had to carry that burden all our lives only hoping things would somehow be better in the afterlife. Forgiveness frees us from the burden of sin and gives us peace with God in this life here and now. It gives us the power to forgive those who wrong us and frees us from carrying the burden of anger, bitterness, and revenge.

The more we realize the immeasurable value of forgiveness, the more we will want to show our gratitude by living in obedience to God's Word. This is not to gain "brownie points" but responding to God in love and praise.

I want my life to tell for Jesus!

I want my life to tell for Jesus,

That everywhere I go,

Men may His goodness know,

I want my life to tell for Jesus!