Affi rm their call to youth ministry

A Presence sometimes sensed

It’s a good thing that someone puts something out there for the rest of us to react to. I write in reaction to what Sid Koop wrote: We Are Broken but not alone [July 15, 2009]. Thanks, Sid, for your article. I’m hoping we can see this as dialogue, as another point of view, instead of a nay saying.

Somehow it seems to me redundant to say we are broken if it is the fact that all of us are in this state equally. It would seem akin to saying we are creatures with two ears, and the response should be: Yeah, so?

If all of us are broken, does it then follow that somewhere in the by and by there exists an unbroken human being? Some ubermensch, unaffected by “sin” as your article has it.

The scars that we bear I would think are the direct result of the treatment that we give to each other (or the lack thereof). The sin that caused our disaffection is then our own doing towards one another.

We seem to me to be an animal hugely charged with emotional baggage. The pain that we experience is so often emotional pain, as in insults, etc. Now if a perfect human exists someplace, would that person then not be affected by the actions of her friends?

Is perfection to not be affected by what we experience? Surely to be fully human is to a) experience hurtful actions against us and b) to pay attention to the hurt we cause others.

How does one go on being a person of integrity when life seems to fail, when dreams die, when the sun seems to have lost its shine? It would seem to me that courage is one thing required in life situations of diffi culty.

The question still is, “Where is this courage to be found?” At what well do we draw courage from? Perhaps the biggest downfall is when we feel we have nothing to contribute to society that is worthwhile.

That may be the time when we are really “broken.” Broken in the sense that a horse is broken. Broken to such an extent that we no longer ask the questions or are concerned for the answers, given up on life, domesticated entirely.

Can I/we remain committed to the ideals of respect for all, kindness, compassion, etc., in diffi cult situations? Can we continue to allow ourselves to be troubled about life?

Last but not least, I expect that like the crucifi xion when the most diffi cult times fi nd us, G-D is usually silent. We are not alone you say, Sid, but my brother died of cancer at sixty-four and my sister-in-law and her children were alone. The answer from heaven once again: silence/nothing.

Fully live human beings stand by each other in times of crises, and sometimes, in the stillness, we sense G-D’s presence. John Schlamp Winnipeg, Man.

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Supports Arden Thiessen’s peace article

I’m sending a poem, Behold the Olive Leaf, written by Wilmer D. Swope. The poem was sent to me sometime ago and I forward it in support of Arden Thiessen’s article, Imitating the God of peace (March 18, 2009).

Behold the Olive Leaf

Behold the olive leaf

Plucked from the olive tree, Brought by the dove to Noah’s Ark

A sign of peace shall be. The saintly do not fi ght

In armies of the world, They do not draw the sword or kill

This witness be unfurled.

As lambs the saintly live

They teach the way of peace, Like olive oil a healing balm

May hate and carnage cease. We must obey the Lord

Nor train our hands to war, It is the sin of hate brings death

And all its blood red gore.

Peter, put up your sword

My servants do not fi ght, Behold, they serve a heavenly King

To live at peace is right. To all the born again

Peace is a living grace, Let all the saints redeemed so live

Their witness be apace.

Be harmless like the dove

Completely live at peace, And have no blood upon your hands

May brotherhood increase. In meditation pray

For peaceful fruits of love, Stand fi rm, refusing war and hate

Have peace from God above.

Stan Penner Landmark, Man.

Editor’s note: Wilmer D. Swope writes that it sings to tune of Terra Patris (used in This is My Father’s World) and it was “written with my brother Stan Penner’s concern in mind.”

More letters on p. 6