Articles
Listening to Wisdom’s Call
Faith and Life Gathering Reflection
by Charlene Smalls
The August 17 Faith and Life Gathering gave me the opportunity to be the voice of wisdom. Following introductions, we prayed for the leading of the Holy Spirit to be with us, as we discerned what wisdom had to say. The people at my table asked me to read the scripture, so that we might hear wisdom from a woman’s voice, as personified in Proverbs 8:1-5 (NIRV).
1Doesn’t wisdom call out?
Doesn’t understanding raise her voice?
2 At the highest point along the way,
she takes her place where the paths meet.
3 Beside the gate leading into the city,
she cries out at the entrance. She says,
4 “People, I call out to you.
I raise my voice to all human beings.
5 You who are childish, get some good sense.
You who are foolish, set your hearts on getting it.
As a woman, I was captivated. I sensed the Holy Spirit speaking, saying that wisdom calls and she is like a mother who meets her children at all points. No matter where they are, she is there, beckoning them to safety and assurance. She is bold in her efforts to make sure they receive all that she has to offer, and when they veer off the path, she stands tall like a willow tree blocking their path to destruction. When they call, she answers.
Does wisdom not point us to a loving God, the one who answers when we call, giving direction? But we don’t always like the answer, so we ignore wisdom’s nudge to turn to God and away from destruction.
After reading Proverbs 8, we discussed four questions. Below are the questions and a summary of our responses:
What are the characteristics of wisdom described in this passage?
Some of wisdom’s characteristics are slow, but powerful, and attainable. Wisdom is knowledge and experience correctly applied. Wisdom is the ability to discern what is right and what is wrong.
What is wisdom’s call or counsel and to whom?
Wisdom’s call and counsel is to all humankind. It calls us to live and share a life centered in Christ, a life lived in light and not darkness. Wisdom invites us to live life at its best.
How are we to access the needed wisdom to help us know how to proceed?
To access this wisdom, we need to create safe spaces where we can listen, yield, and be open to receiving wisdom. “Wisdom creates a safe space to share our deepest and hardest questions through a spirit of love that frees us from fear,” said Noel Santiago.
How can we support one another as we pursue wisdom in our different ministry contexts?
We need to make ourselves available to one another outside of meetings, conferences, and other formal settings. We must respect our differences and seek understanding of those differences. We need to listen so that we hear in different contexts and pray for a non-anxious spirit as we guide our congregations. We also need to pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance on how deep to go into the issues being addressed at this fall’s Assembly.
It is our prayer that these conversations will help us to speak clearly and truthfully, lead justly and diligently, and to pursue wisdom before riches, power, status, or anything else.
Charlene Smalls
Charlene Smalls is co-pastor of Ripple in Allentown, PA.
Listening With the Ear of Our Heart
By Karen Bennett
Editor’s note: Karen Bennett participated in the call to Listening Prayer throughout Mosaic Conference this summer. She was invited to share her reflections from that experience.
Jen was a dear friend from elementary school. I fondly recall playing on a swing inside Jen’s home. Like trapeze artists, we used to swing through Jen’s spacious living room doing flips and frolicking in delight. It was the best of times, and yet, the sun set on that picture-perfect memory. In the often-difficult transition from elementary to middle school, jealousy and competition had surfaced and severed our relationship. While I was sociable with Jen, I was also friendly with Trina, but Jen and Trina did not see eye to eye.
To gain my allegiance, both Jen and Trina demanded that I unfriend the other. However, I was resolved to being first and foremost a friend of Jesus. For me, being a friend of Jesus meant that I could engage with both Jen and Trina. As a result of following Jesus, and not Jen or Trina, the two girls unfriended me.
During this juxtaposed season of earthly loss and heavenly gain, the inner quiet voice whispered [cue Jesus]: “What if Jen and Trina had respected each other? What if they had respected me? What if they had openly shared their differences? What if they had valued their shared humanity as students in the same classroom? What if they had spent time listening?”
To listen to God is to silence the noise outside and within us in order to receive the wisdom from above that enables us to grow in relationship with Jesus and one another. The more we are able to listen and receive from God, the more we are able to listen and receive from others. “For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.” (James 3:16-18, NRSV).
As I reflect on the Mosaic-led listening prayer sessions this summer, as well as those held in my home congregation of Souderton (PA) Mennonite Church, I am grateful for the intentional chesed community that was shaped through prayer, engagement, and dialogue. It was marked by vulnerability and authenticity. To come to the Lord empty-handed, to meditate on scripture, to wait attentively, to be still and know that the Lord is God, to share perspectives and experiences, and to honor and be a part of the unity of the Spirit revealed a fuller picture of Jesus, others, myself, and the harmonious life in community.
Thank you to the individuals and the congregations who participated in Mosaic’s summertime listening prayer sessions. Thank you for listening intentionally and sharing authentically in chesed community, and for your continued commitment to discipleship through listening prayer, listening obedience, and listening friendship in Christ.
Perhaps if Jen, Trina, and I had come to the table we would have learned that listening is a profound act of love and that we are not to hold fast to a position or to power, but to a Person, Jesus. With the ear of our heart, may we prayerfully listen, receive, and respond to Jesus’ presence in our midst.
Karen Bennett
Karen Bennett serves as a volunteer chaplain for Nemours Children’s Hospital and as a volunteer mentor for the Campolo Scholars of Eastern University. She is a recent graduate of Palmer Theological Seminary and is a member of Souderton (PA) Mennonite Church.
Who Wants to be 91?
by Margaret Zook
August 21 was National Senior Citizens’ Day. By 2060, those aged 65 or older will total more than one quarter of the world’s population. According to the World Health Organization, the number of persons aged 80 and older is expected to triple between 2020 and 2050 to reach 426 million.
Community elders, or those of us who are aging, may be viewed as retired, empty-nesters, babysitters, volunteers, or vacationers spending their children’s inheritance. Others may think of them as forgetful, frumpy, frail, and feeble.
“Who wants to be 91?” a 19 year-old young man asked with a sneer. “I do,” replied a ninety-one-year-old man modestly. Most of us want to live a long time, but we don’t want to grow old.
We start aging the moment we are born. The first stage of life is filled with learning and growing. The second stage is focused on production and accomplishment. These years go quickly.
The third stage of life, or the later years, is time for reflection, renewal, relationships, and grace. Author Katie Funk Wiebe writes of the third stage as the “proving ground of whatever one has believed, thought, practiced, and said.” It is a time to use life-giving skills—those skills developed and practiced during the previous two stages—that will continue to give meaning and strength to life and faith.
“Can we expect to become brighter and sweeter as the years roll by?” asks Tilman Smith in In Favor of Growing Older. “Not necessarily; it depends on how we live today. You will take your baggage with you as you grow older.”
Life is complex at all stages. Funk Wiebe recommends in her books Border Crossing: A Spiritual Journey and Bless Me Too, My Father some faith practices for living today and all tomorrows. “It’s never too late to learn,” says Smith, so “develop the resources within … throughout your life.”
I invite you to, no matter what your age is, join me in some of these faith practices:
Gratitude: Exercise the “thank you” muscle. Repeat the words “thank you” to God and to those around and watch what happens.
Generosity: Scientific studies report that giving back and helping others make us feel happier and more content. Create an inward picture of your generosity’s recipients and pray a blessing for and around them.
Reframing: All of life has its share of reverses, losses, and sorrows. What makes a difference is the attitude we have towards them. Practice reframing time and focus on the positive aspects of the present. Be aware of events and persons in the present—give them your attention.
Flexibility: Things change as we age, and some of those changes are irrevocable. But with every reversal comes a new opportunity. Practice never giving up learning, listening, and growing.
Forgiveness: Anger and payback do not turn into the healing balm of love. Forgiveness is the therapy of old age that wipes the slate clean and heals. Practice true forgiveness, for it is more important to the one who forgives than it is to the one who is forgiven.
As the Apostle Paul reminds us, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me…. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-13, NIV).
Margaret Zook
Margaret Zook is the Director of Collaborative Ministries for Mosaic Conference. She and husband, Wib, are members of Salford Mennonite Church and live in Harleysville, PA.
Group Visits the Border
By Danilo Sanchez
From July 15 to 23, a group of 11 adults traveled to Tucson, AZ to learn about immigration justice. The group included four Mosaic young adults, two from Whitehall (PA) Mennonite Church and two from Midian Leadership Project (a CRM in Charleston, WV). The trip was organized by Mennonite Mission Network and West Coast Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). The group bonded by sharing family migration stories. Over half of our group had recent experiences of migration.
We began our experience by learning about past and current US immigration policies and advocacy groups that work with refugees and asylum seekers. An interactive game put us in the life of a migrant. It highlighted the journey and difficult process that many people endure in order to come to the US. People encounter violence, family separation, kidnapping, death, and difficult choices that create lifelong trauma. We learned that even if individuals seek asylum or other forms of legal migration, the process is so long and complicated that many are not able to complete it due to lack of finances, transportation, and/or a language barrier. For those with recent migration stories, the game was all too real.
After the first few days in Tucson, we went to Douglas, AZ, a community along the US-Mexico border. I had previously visited the wall in 2015 with a group from MCC. What was most impactful to me was how much the wall had changed. Where there was once just a barricade fence, there was now a 30-foot wall. The wall had become more enforced and now had concertina wire, which has little razor blades that rip through flesh. We learned from local partners that the number of injuries and deaths of migrants has increased greatly because of it.
On our second day in Douglas, we participated in a cross-planting and prayer vigil for migrants who died trying to cross the border in order to find a better life for themselves and their families. With loud voices, we called out their names to honor their lives, realizing that even though we did not know the persons, their lives were known to God. The most painful ones to call out were “no identificado/a,” migrants who were unable to be identified. But again, we know that nothing is lost or unknown to God.
We returned to Tucson to serve at a migrant center, Casa Alitas. For many migrants, Casa Alitas is the first place with friendly faces they encounter while trying to seek asylum. We interacted with people whose lives were in turmoil and were trying to make the best of it. We played with kids, made art with the adults, and shared stories. It felt good to share God’s love and make sure people had clothing and a proper meal.
I came away from the trip knowing that the border is filled both with great pain and with great beauty and hope. I also saw how much the group grew in love and knowledge, wanting their faith in Jesus to be expressed to the vulnerable. Our lives were changed by the opportunity to see and learn along the border. I would encourage anyone who is interested in immigration justice to take a trip to the border and experience it for yourself. May you encounter the face of God there and be forever changed.
Danilo Sanchez
Danilo Sanchez is the Leadership Minister for Intercultural Transformation for Mosaic Conference. Danilo Sanchez lives in Allentown with his wife Mary and two daughters. He is a pastor at Ripple and leads in the areas of leadership development, discipleship, and teaching. Danilo also works part-time with the housing program of Ripple Community Inc as the Community Life Director.
Preparing for Fall Assembly – “Where is the Lord?”
by Ken Burkholder
I’m currently reading Conrad Kanagy’s series of books entitled, “A Church Dismantled – A Kingdom Restored.” With the bold words of a prophet, the keen insights of a sociologist, and the loving heart of a pastor, Kanagy explores the stark challenges and unique opportunities facing the Western church today. I find these books to be stimulating, provocative, inspiring, and disturbing…all at the same time!
Drawing parallels with God’s people in exile at the time of the prophet Jeremiah, Kanagy beckons us to regularly be asking, “Where is the Lord?” Amid our challenges, disappointments, uncertainties, and opportunities, we must be attentive to what the Lord is saying and doing among us, always asking, “Where is the Lord?” Kanagy warns against the false “mantles” of the church and cautions us against resisting the movement of the Spirit. Rather, we’re called to actively join with the work of God’s Spirit in restoring the authentic, Jesus-centered, Spirit-filled Kingdom of God.
As we approach and prepare to gather for Mosaic’s Fall Assembly – with a theme of chesed: God’s constant, steadfast, and faithful love – I urge us, as the people of God, to continue to be prayerfully asking, “Where is the Lord?” What is the Lord saying, and calling us to, at this particular time? Where is the Lord in our midst? How can we actively join with the movement of God’s Spirit among us in His work of dismantling and restoration, being open and obedient to His leading?
In continued preparations for Fall Assembly, I want to highlight a few important updates and reminders, as we seek to discern, “Where is the Lord?”
How can we actively join with the movement of God’s Spirit among us in His work of dismantling and restoration, being open and obedient to His leading?
KEN BURKHOLDER
Call to Prayer
Thank you to the many congregations and individuals who’ve participated in the Conference initiative of listening prayer and sharing your feedback with the Conference Prayer Ministry Team. If you haven’t already submitted your feedback, please do so by emailing Marta Castillo. And please keep praying for Assembly!
Listening Task Force
The Mosaic Board appointed this group with a task of leading a conference-wide listening process and reviewing Mosaic Conference’s relationships with MC USA. The task force is working diligently. More information can be found here. If your Mosaic community has not had an opportunity to talk with members of the Listening Task Force, please contact any one of the following members: Aldo Siahaan, Jenny Fujita, or Nathan Good.
The task force will share their findings and recommendations with the Mosaic Board in late September. In early October, the Board will then provide an update on these findings, and further information, in preparation for Fall Assembly.
Assembly Scattered
These gatherings will provide an opportunity for additional discernment, learning, and conversation prior to Assembly. Please plan now to join us in October.
Assembly Gathered
Saturday, November 5, 2022; 9:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. ET at Souderton (PA) Mennonite Church. There will NOT be a virtual option this year. Registration opens tomorrow, Friday, September 9. Please encourage all of your delegates to register!
Please continue to check the Conference Assembly website for information and updates: https://mosaicmennonites.org/assembly/
Ken Burkholder
Ken Burkholder is the moderator of Mosaic Mennonite Conference and Lead Pastor of Souderton (PA) Mennonite Church. He previously served for 16½ years as lead pastor of Deep Run East Mennonite Church in Perkasie, PA. Ken is married to Karen (Frankenfield) Burkholder, and has two young adult children – Alyssa and Justin.
Summer or Winter?
By Hendy Matahelemual
If you had to choose between summer or winter for a year, which would you choose? I would choose winter. I like the cold weather, and as I write, it is 100 degrees today in Philadelphia. I spent most of my adult life in Indonesia, where it’s warm all year. So winter is an exciting new experience for me.
Differences in climate don’t just affect the weather – they influence behavior. In her book, Foreign and Familiar: A Guide to Understanding Hot- and Cold-Climate Cultures, Sarah Lanier divides the world in two parts: hot-climate and cold-climate cultures.
In hot-climate cultures, people tend to be more relational and communicate in ways that promote a friendly environment. In cold-climate cultures, people tend to be more task-oriented and value accurate communication over people’s feelings.
In a hot-climate culture, where you belong is more important than what you think. The Māori people of New Zealand say, “I belong, therefore I am.” French philosopher René Descartes expressed a cold-climate perspective when he said, “I think, therefore I am.”
Community life is valued very highly in a hot-climate culture. In a cold-climate culture, people affirm individuality and independence. These cultures generally follow geography, but not always. Cold-climate culture prevails in some warm regions.
What culture or cultures do you identify with?
Jesus said we should treat others as we want to be treated. To do this, we need to be aware of the cultures people come from. Our good intentions might cause harm if we don’t understand other cultures.
As a first-generation Indonesian American, I was excited when I moved to the US. But eventually, I started to feel like an outcast. I didn’t realize how intense my connection to my home community was — and how out of place I would feel when separated from it.
But this conflict created opportunities. I gained more awareness of how to think as an individual. At first, it was a challenge. I’m not used to being alone. I felt anxious and weak, but when I started practicing independence and adjusting to new expectations, I developed tools to navigate a cold-climate culture.
For example, I now have more peace when I have push back on my preaching or writing. When people express disagreement directly to me, I learn to not take it personally and learn to see it from the other perspective. I also find I am now more willing to speak my mind and express my feelings directly.
Stretching is not the goal, but transformation is. Our tolerance of change has its limits. But as we are transformed, we develop new ways of life that make us more complete. I can relate to a wider variety of people because I have learned the ways of both hot- and cold-climate cultures.
Paul said to the church in Rome, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2, ESV). The world has patterns and expectations — like hot- and cold-climate cultural differences — that make us conform to those around us while also separating us from those who are different. These patterns trap us in cultural bubbles.
If we accept the world’s patterns without resistance, a time bomb is set. Eventually it blows up, turning small differences into big conflicts.
Try to immerse yourself in a different culture. If you’re a cold-climate person, visit a hot-climate culture, or vice versa. Expect resistance, internally and externally. Broadening your cultural experience will not be easy, but it is worth it. Keep engaging, learning, and praying as the Spirit leads.
Hendy Matahelemual
Hendy Matahelemual is the Associate Minister for Community Engagement for Mosaic Conference. Hendy Matahelemual was born and grew up in the city of Bandung, Indonesia. Hendy lives in Philadelphia with his wife Marina and their three boys, Judah, Levi and Asher.
Chesed Amidst Uncertainty, Fatigue, and Anxiety
By Angela Moyer Walter
I am a bi-vocational pastor living and ministering in the city of Allentown, PA. I work as a healthcare provider in pediatric home care. It is hard to articulate what the past two and a half years of a global pandemic have been like for me, but I will try.
Uncertainty is my word to describe 2020. It was challenging to figure out how to provide occupational therapy services to families via telehealth and make wise choices with my co-pastors regarding worship, ministry, and safety.
I describe 2021 with the word fatigue. The constant and unending changes and desperation drained me. My usual places of calm and refreshment were no longer sufficient. Many things required double the energy and unexpected complications became the norm.
When 2022 came, I experienced anxiety in a way that I never had before. It is one thing to walk alongside folks experiencing overwhelming anxiety, but it is another trying to manage your own.
Despite the uncertainty, fatigue, and anxiety, I can testify through it all, God’s Chesed (loving kindness) has sustained me.
At our church, Ripple, the children enjoy singing, “Jesus is the rock, the rock that lasts, Jesus is the rock that lasts. My soul has found a resting place.” When we are tossed repeatedly by the ever-changing crashing waves, Jesus is our rock. God never leaves us. God is present with us in the storm.
I have used these images in scripture often to encourage and support others. But with the pandemic and our country’s social-political polarization over the past two years, these images have become ingrained more deeply into my own being and understanding of God.
During this season of uncertainty, fatigue, and anxiety, many have experienced God in new and profound ways. I have found myself singing a favorite chorus recently, “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.” Despite our challenges and discomfort in life, God’s continual presence changes and transforms all of us through reconciling love.
I welcome the opportunity to gather at fall Assembly with you and celebrate chesed, God’s loving kindness that has sustained humanity though all the hardships of all time. God is good, abundant, and so gracious with us. When the world around us is in chaos, we can take deep breaths and know that God’s Spirit, ruah, is near to us, pulsing through us. This is good news!
Think of God in a very big way.
And if you do, that’s too small!
You can’t think of anything more wonderful than this God.
And you can’t figure out anything about God without a special grace.
God is so marvelously good, there is no word for it.
So gentle. So considerate. So kind.
So tender – so everything marvelous.
That is God. And whatever you say about God is far less than it is.
– THOMAS KEATING
As we prepare for Assembly, I encourage you to read Psalm 116 in The Message. Verses 1-11 describe my experience well, and I’m not alone in that. Verses 12-14 summarize what I am anticipating at Assembly:
What can I give back to God
for the blessings he’s poured out on me?
I’ll lift high the cup of salvation—a toast to God!
I’ll pray in the name of God;
I’ll complete what I promised God I’d do,
and I’ll do it together with his people.
Mosaic’s inaugural two years have brought challenges and celebrations, and God has been moving through it all. We have wept and prayed together, shared with one another, and learned from one another, and, Chesed has sustained us. What can we give back to God? We will lift high the cup of God’s salvation!
Angela Moyer Walter
Angela Moyer Walter is Assistant Moderator of Mosaic Conference, Co-pastor at Ripple Church in Allentown, PA, and an occupational therapist at Good Shepherd Rehabilitation. She enjoys long summer evenings with family and friends and watching the Philadelphia Phillies.