ne jeistlijch Pogge
Religious traditions and holidays are meant to bind us together – especially
in the traditional faiths such as Judaism, Anabaptism, Catholicism and Protestant
Lutheranism. But sometimes the ties that
are meant to bind often seem rather to distance us from each other – even within our
own faith traditions.
These days, ethnic Mennonites
and Roman Catholics seem to get along quite well. All four of my sisters married Roman
Catholics and the majority of my friends in the Midwest seem to be Roman
Catholic (admittedly with many significant exceptions). In fact, given the dearth of active
Mennonites in my age group (being the 20s and 30s), I often find myself
fellowshipping or spiritually caucusing with Roman Catholics of my age
group.
I have already written that
the recent elections in the United States were bruisers – ideologically
divisive in the extreme – especially within the Catholic parishes which are now
just as split politically as their Anabaptist counterparts – a relatively new
phenomenon for a religious electorate that has often been noted for its
cohesive unity. Many of my Catholic
friends are considering changing parishes or redefining their religious
identity.
Understanding the split
within my own family between Social Progressive elements and the Fundamentalists
and that we no longer even celebrate holidays together, many non-Mennonites
have asked me why I continue to identify as Mennonite as why don’t just give up
on the family.
The answer is simply that
while Anabaptists remain a relatively united ethnic religion, we are in fact
about as diverse politically and spiritually as one can find outside of the
Jewish culture. One of my greatest
frustrations – past Mennonite treatment of my non-Mennonite mother, actually
reflects one of our greatest strengths.
Ethnic Mennonites such as my father provide stability, context and an
historical perspective to the church and ethnic group while adult converts from
other backgrounds tend to provide the enthusiasm, the energy and the vital faith that
reenergizes the ethnic pact generation after generation. This is a lesson shared with the faculty and
leadership of Grace University in Omaha who recognize that while the school
seldom identifies as Mennonite any longer, it is the old Mennonite families and
churches that continue to imbibe Grace with a depth of support and
heritage. To this day, many of the
multi-generational, multi-unit (meaning cousins and cousins) families at the
University are of some sort of Mennonite derivation. Conservative or progressive, liberal or
fundamentalist, all Mennonite-derived or affiliated congregations tend to share
these two pillars of strength and identity.
