Fred Rogers, host of the preschool television series Mister Rogers' Neighbourhood
Mr. Rogers' statement sounds simple when you read it. I must confess, for me it isn't. Accepting someone exactly the way they are is difficult! The quote states that love is "an active noun like struggle."
These past days many of us in Canada have followed with interest the words of Pope Francis as he expressed feelings of regret and sorrow for the actions of the Catholic Church toward Indigenous people. Niigaan Sinclair, in a Winnipeg Free Press article of July 18, 2022, stated that "this is no time to dance around barriers to inclusivity. The movement to make Indigenous celebrations and ceremonies more inclusive of all of our relations cannot be stopped because it is driven by love."
A long time ago, when our daughters were still in high school, Rockway Mennonite Collegiate put on a drama of Harper Lee's 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird. I remember it not only because one of our daughters had a part in it, but also because there were some universal truths that bear repeating in 2022, the 62nd anniversary of the book's publication. Here's one:
"Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of another ... . There are just some kind of men who are so busy worrying about the next world they've never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results."
Mr. Rogers called the space between the viewer and the television set "holy ground" and said the central message of "Mr. Rogers' Neighbourhood" -- that you are loved just the way you are -- was based on God's concern for all creation, a core tenet of Christianity (Daniel Burke, CNN Religion Editor).
The book On Holy Ground, edited by Dora Dueck, has caused some controversy, as I wrote in my last post. Pages were removed and books destroyed. Here in Winnipeg we held a picnic to protest this action; it was well attended and felt peaceful.
"These days I'm a bit bristly."
Another wonderful book is the one on the right which Hardy brought home from our church library. It was published in 2003 and I don't know why I haven't become aware of it.
Justina D. Neufeld left Ukraine in 1943, the same year our family did. I was a three-month old baby, Justina was a thirteen-year-old. We were able to leave by train, whereas her family (the father had already been taken from them) left by horse and wagon and endured hardships I cannot even imagine. She was separated from most of her family, but rescued by MCC, eventually travelling to Holland and then adopted by a loving family in the U.S. whose daughter served with MCC in Holland.
I was so moved by Neufeld's book that I decided to try and contact her, wondering if she was even still alive (as she is thirteen years older than I am). I was able to get in touch with her through her publisher (Pandora Press, Kitchener), and she responded by email informing me that she has just published another book, Justa's Escape: A Journey from WWII Ukraine. It is written for younger readers. She was also interviewed by the oral history department of the National Holocaust Museum which is interested in non-Jewish survivors of WWII. This woman gives me hope -- she is in her nineties!
