Just Ducky

If you need an idea for a charming, harmless prank to do on a family member or friend, I can loan you one. An idea, that is, not a relative or friend. If you're like me, you don't exactly loan out the latter.  

Here's how I know about a good pranking idea to suggest: 

A few hours after we came home from Maranatha Bible School, I got my first clue of a mystery in our house. As I was showering, I noticed a tiny yellow duck sitting on the shower caddy shelf. 

"Hmm," I thought, "that's cute. I wonder how that got there. I'll bet Kerra put it there as a little welcome-home token." Minutes later, I noticed another mini duck, an identical twin to the first one, in my Q-tip cup.

"As soon as Kerra gets home from her singing practice," I told myself, "I'll have to thank her for the fun gift items she placed for us."

Meanwhile, I found a few more duckies about the house, equal in size to the first two I had discovered but in new colors. Pink and purple ones nestled in a set of glass candle holders on the banister above the entry stairs. Blue and white ones perched on the upper portion of doorways and window trim. Clearly someone had been up to some sort of ducky welcome home.

"Oh, it wasn't me," declared Kerra when I thanked her for the fun finds. "Someone got permission from me to come to our house last night while I was gone and place some items for you to find. But the person who messaged me about it wasn't the one who came here, so I don't know who actually did the hiding."

Hmm, interesting. My thoughts began paddling. A bigger deal than just a couple of ducks, then. Who knows what prankster(s) entered the house and who knows how many ducks they hid? This should be a fun mystery to solve. 

For the next week, we kept finding ducks both by surprise and by intentional hunting. I started lining them up in a circle on the kitchen counter as we discovered them. When the total number hit the 20's mark, I googled "hiding ducks" to see if duck pranking is really a thing. Turns out it is! Amazon is on board with the scheme, as well, offering for purchase multi-colored flocks of tiny resin ducks in packages of 100. 

"One hundred! Well. We have a long way to go," I thought. 

Ken got in on the hunt, too. When he discovered a duck in each of his work shoes, and another ducky pair on the window sill high above the entry door, he started thinking that maybe a man was involved in the duck-hiding scheme. Perhaps a husband and wife made up the pranking team, he proposed.

 I thought he had a point. I started shifting my ideas about youth girls being the culprits (because they had hung out with Kerra one night shortly before we came home from MBS) and employed my sleuthing skills to further investigation among our church family. 

I messaged numerous friends, prying into their whereabouts on a certain Friday night by asking if they knew anything about a duck prank in our house. Some said they knew absolutely nothing about it, but they wished they did, because it sounded like such a neat idea. Others said they had heard someone say it should be done, but they didn't know any more details than that, and they weren't going to say who had made the suggestion. A few knew that it was done, but they were quick to insist that they didn't do it. 

The vague answers and cryptic messages deepened our puzzlement while we continued collecting ducks. Maybe we would reach one hundred! The duck circles on the counter expanded as the tiny, colorful creatures showed up in flowerpots, egg cartons, jacket pockets, the spice cupboard, and of all places, in the fridge freezer - frozen into ice cubes! 

Not only did we collect tiny ducks by the dozens, but we also accumulated some duck puns in our ongoing hunt for the pranksters. "Did you have to duck the last time you came to our house?" or "Did you add to the "duckerations" in our house?" I might ask a suspect.

"I must have ducked the joke, because I'm swimming in confusion, but it could be I'm just a few quackers short." might be the reply. "I'm trying to keep my feet out of this web" or "I'm not trying to duck your question, but I could take you on a wild goose chase, if you'd like" were some other punny answers to my inquiries. One friend asked if we had discovered who broke in, so we could know whom to "bill" for any damage.😊

Our children were also interested in becoming mystery detective workers. Ricky got the brilliant idea to check video footage from one of Martin's Family Fruit Farm's security cameras, the one mounted on the side of the apple storage building that faces our house. 

That particular move is what led to the revelation: The duck-hiders were indeed a husband and wife team, and none other than our minister and his wife! Some other friends of ours were in on the scheme as well, arranging the different aspects to the prank in such a way that it was hard to pin down who actually did it. In the end, they just wanted Ken and me to come home to a surprise conveying the message that we were missed and we are loved. I'd say they chose a unique and creative way to do it!

So there you have it - a welcome home idea for showing your friends you care. Order your Amazon package today, and get started. Let me know if you need some suggestions for good hiding places. 

Also, here's some advice for you, if you're ever on the receiving end of a duck prank: 

1. Make sure your house is clean and in good order before you leave it for three weeks. (I shudder to think of the dust and spider webs our pranksters encountered while they hid ducks in ours...) 

2. Put aside your qualms about people pulling open your desk drawers and cupboard doors to find hiding places and just pull out the stops on your enjoyment in finding the ducks hidden in those places.

3. If you suspect someone duck-pranked you and you confront them about it and they say neither nay nor yea, but something about trying to stay neutral in this sort of situation, count on it - they are the culprit. 

And there's one more thing. When it comes to pranking, never put it past your pastor and his wife to pull off a good one.

P.S. We still come across a duck hiding spot now and then. The other day, I found the 100th duck! But is that the last one? According to the hiders, no one knows for sure how many ducks were placed. Now the question is What to do with 100 ducks? Playing Hide the Duck with the grandson and using them as conversation starters or accessories in fairy gardens uses only so many. What do you suggest? 

Marching in the Company Of

                                                  📷- Jenn Jantzi

A whole month (and a bit more) has gone by since we returned home from our stint at Bible School. When I look back over our March schedule - the places we went, the activities we did, and the people we encountered in the past several weeks - I realize that we live a full, rich life. 

Recently I heard a speaker on the Anabaptist Perspectives podcast quoting an "old anabaptist" on the topic of brotherhood when he said, "No man is in Christ apart from his brother." The speaker went on to explain that we all need to have some kind of group of people to love, someone to have to get along with. "You can't submit to yourself," he said, "You've got to have real people in your life to interact with", in order to fully live out the teachings of Jesus.

I can't say I've thought of it exactly like that before. Viewing our experience from this perspective, I feel like we are a blessed couple with lots of opportunity for living out Christianity in community. We have so many friends, relatives, and acquaintances as our "real people to interact with" - people who help to shape us, as well as people in whom we have a chance to help form character. I'm grateful that we get to do life in the varied company of these beautiful souls.

In the month of March, we were in the company of the following people, some pictured, and some not:

Pictured: 

Luci Martin from northern Alberta was the guest speaker at a seminar for us ladies at Oasis. I had the special privilege of hosting Luci in our home for several days over that time. (you can read more about the weekend in the series she posted weeks ago, being the perfect kind of prompt and prolific blogger that she is)

Carlin & Kayleen and the twins hosted us for a brief time at their place when we were on our way back home from a meeting in Lancaster, PA. I helped Kayleen prepare food for a friend's baby shower she was attending that evening. And we doted on those sweet little girls, of course!

The planning committee for our Sunday evening services at Oasis put together a memorable event for our church family on Palm Sunday - a Christian Passover Seder. I signed up to make multiple batches of unleavened bread (lotsa matzah, as my friend worded it) ahead of time. As "father of the household" at our table, Ken was the one to pour the water for handwashing before we shared the meal together. The committee did such a good job of explaining the symbology (I learned a new word that evening) of the different aspects of a Seder.

Val, Sharon, and Tina are smart, helpful, and fun editors in my writing world. I thoroughly enjoyed my day with them and other writers at the Authors' Book Signing Event that Living Waters, a local Christian bookstore, put on. I didn't have my own signing booth, since the book I'm working on isn't to the signable stage yet, so I visited other authors at their stations, and sat in on Topic and Q & A sessions in the main assembly. It was a special highlight of the day to rendezvous with the abovementioned members of my Writers' Group. 

                                                     📷- Tori Martin

Norm & Sharon and daughters blessed us with their music and their words at an annual fundraiser dinner for NYP one evening at an area church. I'm always so encouraged to see families who enjoy singing together. 

Darrel & Cathy visited our church one Sunday morning and graced us with their presence in our home for Sunday lunch and an afternoon visit. There's nothing quite like getting together with old friends we haven't been with for awhile, to make the hours zip by. 

                                                                   📷- Kerra Martin

The Waterloo Kenites came here last Saturday evening to celebrate Kerra, who had just become a quarter century years old earlier in the week. The gathering was also a catch-up party for Joy, Rolin, and Jasmine, whose birthdays we missed celebrating right while they happened during the past year. As usual, the triplets provided a good portion of the entertainment that evening. It was their first time to be here since Jude and Piper are walking, so they had great fun exploring Grandpa and Grandma's house!   

Our church family shared a preparatory service, a Communion service, an Easter Sunday morning service, and a potluck meal together in recent weeks. What a privilege to get to know my brothers and sisters better as we sing together, listen to each other's testimonies and stories, hear sermons and study the Word together, wash each other's feet literally and figuratively, eat each other's good food, laugh and cry together, encourage one another, learn from each other's mistakes, and follow Jesus together.

Not pictured:

~ Nephew Nick married his sweetheart Alisha on the day that we got home from Bible School, and we were pleased to attend the wedding as the groom's aunt & uncle. A meaningful part of the ceremony was witnessing the couple read the vows they had written to each other, and a special touch at the close of the reception was the gathering of guests around the couple for a send-off prayer of blessing.

~ Seth came here after school one afternoon and stayed for a few hours, long enough to eat supper with us, listen to some stories, play house (which included caring for triplet babies, of course), play Hide the Duck, and go fishing (for Grandma's pool noodle fish).

~ A pleasant and helpful policewoman showed up when Ken and I were parked on the shoulder of I-90 somewhere in Pennsylvania, changing a tire on our van after dark. She informed us that we weren't the only travelers with a flat tire dilemma, that she'd gotten reports of a nail spill in the vicinity (Ohh, so that debris we had hit earlier wasn't a dead deer after all!) and that there were two more similarly disabled vehicles ahead of us. After our spare tire was on, she drove behind us, lights flashing, until we were well out into traffic again. In the next ten-mile stretch, we counted 13 vehicles pulled off to the side of the road with a flat tire!

~ My writer friend Elaine from Parry Sound treated me to lunch and a chat with her at Kitchen Kuttings when she came to Elmira to attend a visitation one afternoon.

~ And then the following day, my walking buddy and Tiny Group friend Rose shared lunch and a catch up visit with me at Covenant Cafe in Waterloo.

~ A pranking mystery couple visited us one evening...well, technically we weren't in the company of the sneaky pair, we were only in the company of the dozens of tiny ducks they hid all over our house, to welcome us home from MBS. I'll give more details of this in my next episode, oops, I mean in my next blog post. 

Pitfalls and Perfections of Parishes: A Partner Post with Luci Martin

My friend Luci is a prolific blogger. Especially this month. She's been posting almost every day in November, and her commitment to the #writeeverydaychallenge is quite something. Last Wednesday, at the end of her publication for the day, she asked her readers for discussion question ideas. When I sent her one about large and small congregations, she liked it. I found out that when she mentioned doing a partner post with me on the topic, she was serious. I thought it sounded fun, even though I didn't know what a partner post was. When I discovered that she didn't really know either, I thought it sounded even more fun - to explore it together. 

That is how this unofficial partner post with Luci officially came about. I asked her questions regarding her congregation, and she asked me questions about the two different church communities I've experienced in my life. After quibbling a bit about which of us two is more articulate, and both of us confessing some nervousness about answering each other's questions, we got down to it. You can read the results of the "interviews" over on her blog, and here on mine. Following are the questions I asked about her church and community in BayTree, Alberta, along with her answers:

1. If you describe your current congregation as small and remote, in terms of size and the distance you are from other Anabaptist churches, what sort of stereotypical labels of such a congregation make your defensive hackles rise?

I think that being considered sheltered and antiquated and redneck because we're off grid as far as Mennonites go is probably what would irritate me most. But I feel that is probably my own insecurity speaking. The vibes I described are not ones we get often from others. Usually people are curious and respectful of our choice to live where we do.

2. You’ve attended the same church basically all your life. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of becoming so rooted in one place?

Advantages: You're not just able to leave your relationship problems or grievances against leadership or discontentment and find a church that's a tad more to your liking. You need to stay and work it out, leave (your type of) Mennonite church, or move away. The core people become a close knit group.

Your wider community relationships go far, far back and things feel solid and familiar.

Disadvantages: boredom, it's easy to become complacent and lukewarm, you may be less likely to try new things that involve stepping out of your comfort zone, it's easy to develop a resistance to change.

I feel that independence and individualism are a very real threat to a small church group. You'd think the smallness would keep us relying on each other, but where there might be a dearth in support or strong examples to follow, it can be easy to turn inward and just get by on your own somehow. 

3. In what ways, if any, do you think that these advantages and disadvantages would be different if your dad hadn’t been a part of the ministry in your congregation as you were growing up?

Hmmm. Dad being a minister definitely helped us get out more than some of our peers did. We went yearly to ministers meetings and large fellowship gatherings. But our family may also have contributed to the lackadaisical attitude a small, ingrown church can adopt so easily. When the leaders aren't fresh and current, the church feels it.

4. For a time, your whole family was a part of your church. What are some specific things your parents did to encourage you all to bond as a family while also expanding your friendship and love to include the rest of the congregation as well as engaging with visitors, neighbors, and unbelievers?

When I was growing up, no topic was off the table in our home. We hashed them all out. My parents were also very hospitable to ALL the people groups you describe. My mom looked out for marginalized people and we ate with and housed anyone God put in my parents' path.

We didn't always speak kindly about our church family when we were together, but our loyalty was fierce and we stood up for each other. I don't remember ever having the kind of drama that meant we weren't speaking to someone in church or avoiding them. Problems were usually worked on.

5. What helps a person to recognize they are/their congregation is becoming ingrown? Do they actually have to get out of the setting in some way, or at least broaden their horizons in order to recognize what’s happening? What do you think you would do as an individual if you sensed your congregation is too inward-focused to be healthy?

For me personally, my ingrown-ness is manifest the most when I see the needs in the larger community around me and don't think I can relate or understand or care for the hurting.

When it comes to being ingrown and unable to relate to other Anabaptist groups, it's a different scenario. I do feel that "getting out" to Bible school and job opportunities and visiting other churches is of utmost importance. It rounds out your perspective and feeds your intellect and introduces you to new blood.

My 17 year old daughter said this: "It's actually easy for any Mennonites to become ingrown, and it's sometimes even worse in large communities. You have your friends, your job, your youth group, etc."

And sometimes when you've got it all right there, you never see beyond and try something new.

As to your third question under #5 (your expectations are high, Danette!), what I would personally do if I sense becoming ingrown as a problem?

Umm...this is a hard question. I'd encourage Bible school for the youth, travel, broadening friendships in our own community and among other Anabaptists, volunteering, etc.

6. If there are fewer people with whom to “compare among yourselves” in a small, isolated congregation, does that lessen the tendency to be jealous of others?

Possibly. Probably.

But there's also this type of scenario: There are only two of you in grade 3. Your friend always gets better grades. It wears you down that you can never beat her. You may go through school always feeling less than. In a larger setting, there would be 12 students in grade 3, two you can seldom beat in academics, six of you who are similar and competitive, and four who seldom perform quite to the standard you are able to achieve.

There may be a greater sense of belonging in a larger, more varied setting.

(And woe to that third grader who was always at the top of her two person class when she gets out and meets people at Bible school who get straight A pluses when she's just an average student.)

7. How is growth of a church (in numbers) accomplished best in a setting like yours?

Common to a lot of us who are of our stripe and flavour of Mennonite, we haven't done ourselves proud with growing from the community around us. Sadly.

We have recently been growing from within and God is also giving us some young families and singles from other communities.

I've long given up on making people Mennonites. I think we're here to be a safe place, a nudge in the right direction, the hands and feet of Jesus, that touch of joy, hope, love, or truth someone encounters. I pray my quick smile or act of kindness makes someone want to encounter the Jesus I serve. Maybe I am just lazy or not on fire enough?

When we became leaders in our church, Dan said often that he takes comfort in Jesus's words that HE will build HIS church. It's not our job. The church belongs to Jesus.

8. Let’s say that a newcomer to your congregation has some really good ideas for improving an event, a method, or a situation in your church, but to go with that person’s ideas would mean uncomfortable change for some in your congregation because it’s so different from “the way it’s always been done”. How would you advise your people to proceed in the case of a newcomer posing this perceived threat to the (written or unwritten) established pattern?

I don't tend to be a traditionalist personally, so I'd like to believe that I'm open to change. To embrace big changes, our church would operate very democratically. Probably the issue would come to discussion and likely a membership vote.

9. In a small church, how do you get everything done? Do members of your congregation need to double up on the jobs? Do you ever resent having to take on more than your share of the load?

It's been a hard road, in some ways.

Everyone is just really expected to do their part. If you can't make it to school cleaning, you trade with your friend and take her place next time. Or you tell your group to leave the bathrooms and you'll do them the next day.

Yes, I remember years when the song leader would put down his song book and pick up his Bible and have Sunday school devotions.

There have definitely been days of resentment and burnout. It feels like God has been so gracious lately in giving us a few more people to round out the responsibility load.

10. How do you cope with the lack of opportunity to do huge church events or sing in a couple-hundred-voice choir or bring in thousands of dollars for your school at a community-wide fundraiser?

I guess this answer proves that I truly am "bushed": I don't just love huge church events and I'm glad we don't have to make pies and quilts for fundraisers! I'm not a singer, so I don't mind not being able to join a huge choir. I would like to be able to listen to them more often, though. Edmonton is a long ways away to go hear Handel's Messiah and southern Alberta is far to go to hear an SMBI program.

I think it is of ultimate importance for our youth to get out and experience the wider Mennonite world. We lived for those experiences as young people growing up in BayTree. Not all of our peers did, though.

Honestly, I still live for those times. But still not all of my peers do.

Here's the 17 year old again: Honestly, I'm cool with it. I kind of like having a smaller friend group. The choir thing I sometimes long for, but I plan to be part of other choirs in the future. And we had our church/community choir and that was really good.

Added note:

If you are a dyed-in-the-wool Anabaptist of a similar type and flavour to me, you may be wondering if it is easier to lose our youth because of the "advantage" I posed in question #2's answer....

That it's hard to find another church similar but a tad different from our own if we become unhappy and we have about three options: work things out, leave the Anabaptists altogether, or move to a likeminded church farther away.

I think it's more likely that people will abandon the Mennonite faith more quickly in a remote setting like ours. And that's sad to us who love and embrace it.

I hope I didn't come across as smug and self-satisfied in who we are as a remote community. I often wish my children could have experienced a broader Anabaptist experience. I know that where I grew up and where they are growing up has shaped us incredibly much. Hopefully more positively than negatively. But where's the scale and who mans it?

A huge thank you to Luci for answering my questions with her typical thoughtful observations and wise conclusions. Maybe this exchange has sparked some interest in you regarding the topic. If so, feel free to share your thoughts and questions with the rest of us.

Luci with her family

Bear With Me

Bear with me as I ponder some phrases that show up when I've got Bear with me.

"a black Bear from the States"   He sometimes uses this description when referring to himself having come across the border to visit us and other friends he has in Canada. Decades ago, when he was in high school, his class did a play in which the characters were animals. He played the role of a bear and wore a big furry brown coat for his part. After that, his classmates started calling him Bear, and the name stuck. Although he doesn't hesitate to call himself a black bear, we aren't sure that we should refer to him as black. We sometimes ask him what the preferred term is, knowing that Negro is no longer considered acceptable by many of his color. African American? Person of Color? He doesn't seem to mind what the term is. Accepting him as one of us is more important to him than us making sure we get the right description. 

"Canadian cubs"  With a name like Bear, one naturally takes on bear lingo, I guess. Bear often refers to children and teens as cubs or young bearcubs. Sometimes he calls his home the Bear Den (or cave, or hollow log), refers to his hands as paws, and says he's growling when he's only talking. Leaving a crowd and going to his room for a rest, or not messaging his social media friends for awhile can be described as going into hibernation. He's also been known to issue his friends bear-related nicknames such as Cub Ears, Winnie the Pooh, Goldilocks, and Brown Bear. 

"running around" and "seeing people"  Bear became blind when he was quite young. He and his twin brother were preemies, and were on oxygen while in incubators after their birth. This was decades ago, before doctors knew the detrimental effects that too much oxygen can have on premature infants' eyes. Because his oxygen levels weren't carefully monitored, Bear's eyesight was permanently damaged; he has been coping with blindness for most of his life. He doesn't use a white cane nor does he own a seeing eye dog; his friends have been his guides throughout his life. Being blind doesn't keep him from "running around", as he calls it. When he came to our house on his first visit here, we were amazed at how quickly he learned to know the place. The first few times I heard him say that he saw this person, or that he'll be seeing that cub next month, it fascinated me coming from someone who can't see. But he sees people by hearing their voice, by being in their presence, and sometimes, if appropriate, by hugging them. 

"one another"  If you'd ask Bear how he came to know us (Kihnny & Dihnette), he'd probably say, "We've known one another for fifteen years now" or "We met one another at Storybook Camp in 2007". This refers to our place of meeting when our family first attended a week-long gathering for families called FOCIS (Families of Christ in Service) in northern Minnesota. Bear is a rather permanent fixture at this annual meeting. He and our family stayed in the same cabin at Storybook Camp that year, and Bear took a special liking to our boys who were fifteen and thirteen at the time. Our family's mere acquaintance with Bear in the summer of 2007 quickly deepened into a lasting friendship, especially after he began making yearly visits to our home. As I've heard Bear talk about various people he's gotten to know, I've picked up on his terminology: where I say "each other", he tends to use the biblical phrase "one another" - and it seems a fitting way to describe mutual relationships. Also, Bear uses the phrase "keeping company with one another" to describe a boy cub dating a girl cub. I think that is quaint and sweet. 

"you folk"  Other homey phrases that Bear uses in referring to us two and our family is "you people" and its close cousin "you folk". "What are you folk up to tonight?" he might ask us when he's at our house and, having his own evening plans lined up, is waiting on one of his friends in the area to come pick him up to go out for supper. Or he'll inquire about our December schedule: "Are you folk going to hear Messiah this Christmas?"  Sometimes he'll half-scold us in his voice message on our phone: "You people never stay home!" His astonishment over discovering our acquaintances and relatives North America-wide will have him extending the "you people" phrase beyond our household to include Mennonites in general: "You people know everybody!" 

"a little more honey, please"  Bear has distinct likes and dislikes when it comes to food and beverages and he feels free to let you know what they are. Breakfast cereal can be a mix of three or four different kinds, and he prefers to eat it dry - without milk. Eggs should be fried hard, wiener schnitzel shouldn't be too dry, and cookies should be made with butter. (In fact, many foods are enhanced by subjecting them to butter on, in, or under) Cold beverages such as water and juice need plenty of ice in them. Bear's taste for hot beverages are quite exclusive. No coffee for him, but tea will do just fine. English Breakfast, Earl Grey, and peppermint tea are favorites. The water should be as hot as possible, and when the tea has steeped long enough, a generous teaspoon of honey should be stirred in. Shortbreads, cutout cookies, or donuts - sour cream and the old-fashioned glazed ones from Tim Horton's - would make wonderful sidekicks. And to the tea for a Bear, could you add a little more honey, please?

"Hey!"  Bear expresses himself spontaneously, intensely, and uniquely. That's why we're bound to hear him declare, Yeah right! or Get out! when he can't quite believe something is true, or when someone is pulling his leg. When he's riding in the van with us, we often hear him shout "Hey!" or some equivalent word, or yelp out an expression that isn't really a word but carries definite meaning, when Kenni swerves suddenly or hits the rumble strips at the side of the road. We've come to realize more vividly how vulnerable a blind person must feel when in riding in a vehicle at the mercy of the driver. It makes a passenger feel a little safer on the road if he or she can at least see what's going on, so we try to drive carefully and explain sudden moves that may feel unsettling to Bear when he's along. We have more to learn from him in this area...

"a snoot and a snob"  Bear also has definite music tastes. He prefers classical and choral music to country and contemporary, and is very partial to Bach. (Sorry, Tennessee Ernie Ford, you get the dismissive tone - "that song sounds like something you'd sing when you're out with the chickens") A couple of times during a recent visit here, Bear went downstairs to the guest room and hung out there by himself for awhile, listening to podcasts on an early music theme. Later he told me he was just being a snoot and a snob. There are plenty of ways he shares music, though, too. I love hearing him sing solos. He makes a song come alive. Bear has a ton of hymns memorized and he will gladly share one (all sixteen verses!) with listeners, asked or unasked.

"well, m' dear"  When Bear is winding down a conversation with someone on the phone, he often uses an affectionate term - m' dear - in ending the call. "Well, m' dear, it's been great talking with you." It's probably habit, but I think that he really does love the people he contacts and this is his way of conveying appreciation for them. Bear often breaks down in tears when he speaks of the blessing our family has been to him. We can tell that he considers us some of his dear people. He has a whole crowd of dear people in his acquaintance and friendship. We have seen him interact with people and we've noticed things that touch him - people who are grieving the loss of loved ones, those who are doubting God and walking away from Him, those who are discouraged and ill. He has been a great mentor for many a cub, as well as encouraged and challenged us many times. Truly Bear sees with the eyes of his heart.

To those of you who know Bear, what signature phrases of his have I missed?

Re-membering Passover

One evening last month Ken and I had the privilege of partaking in a Passover meal. When Steve (Ken's brother) & Rose asked us to join them and several other friends in commemorating this Jewish tradition, we were delighted to accept the invitation.

It wasn't the first time for Steve & Rose to host a gathering like this. Occasionally sharing a Passover meal with a group of friends in their home has come about in recent years because of their relationship with a young man named David. Following a serendipitous meeting with him at a local farmers' market about a decade ago, they gave David a home with their family for a week. Ever since then, their acquaintance has been developing into a comfortable and rich friendship. 

Among the many valuable things I've learned from the example of Ken's family over the years is the joy of accepting and learning from people of nationalities and cultures different than our own. It was a treat to taste of this delight as Steve & Rose welcomed us guests into their friendship with David and into his knowledge of Passover. David is not a Jew but a Christian who has an intense love of studying scripture and Jewish traditions. 

For a Christian to celebrate Passover is to correlate the Israelites' Exodus story and the coming of Jesus for our salvation. The meal is highly significant; it is full of symbols of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. No wonder our invitation said the meal would be lengthy with the "symbolism of each dish explained as we go" and that we should "be prepared for a very worshipful and meaningful evening".

Our group of 11 that evening was almost as varied as the group of disciples that met with Jesus for the Last (Passover) Supper. From farmer to funeral director assistant, minister to musician, secretary to stay-at-home mom, we were all grateful to be chosen to share the communal meal called Passover. As we gathered together for this "festival of freedom", in a sense we met to re-enact and re-member that long-ago release from bondage in Egypt as well as the looking forward to a coming Messiah. 

The first event of the evening, the Leaven Search, took place before we sat at the table for the Passover meal. To typify the purge of leaven that happens in Jewish homes for eight days prior to Passover, we searched for a small piece of leavened bread that had been hidden somewhere in the house. Ken found the little bread roll in Rose's china cupboard. Unleavened bread is part of the Passover meal because it is a reminder of the haste in which the Israelites left Egypt - there was no time for the bread to rise before their sudden departure on Passover night. Leaven is also a type of sin. Sin puffs us up. It is also hidden and sneaky. I Cor. 5 talks about purging out the old leaven: "For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

Throughout the meal we had the traditional four cups of wine (in our case, non-alcoholic grape beverage). These four cups, sanctification, deliverance, redemption, and restoration, correspond with four promises made to Israel by God: "I will bring you out"; "I will deliver you"; "I will redeem you"; and "I will take you to be my people". (Exodus 6:6) An interesting aspect of drinking the second cup was first dipping our finger into the wine and shaking 10 drops onto our plate to signify God's wrath in the ten plagues.    

There was an empty chair and place setting at the table for Elijah. In a traditional Passover celebration, Jews provide this for the coming Messiah. At the end of the meal, they also open a door to the outside and look for him coming. As Christians, we viewed the unoccupied place at the table as a reminder of the Unseen Guest - our Already-come Messiah, and the gazing into the skies through the open door as a looking for Jesus in His second coming. 

At the beginning of the meal, David brought to the table three linen-wrapped pieces of unleavened bread called matzah (matzot is plural for matzah). The symbolism soon became evident as David unwrapped the middle piece and broke it, wrapped it back up, and "hid" the cloth package in the dining room. Typically, the children at a Passover meal search for the hidden bread and a leader of the group pays a ransom to the child who finds it. After the ransom is paid, the piece is eaten by all. My heart felt so full as I made the connections while David led us through the steps. Jesus, God the Son, second person in the Trinity, became bread for us. His body was broken in death on the cross, bound in linen strips of cloth, hidden away in a tomb for three days, and then was found fully alive again. Since that price has been paid for our atonement, we can all partake of that Bread...

We broke bread together around the table there that evening. Breaking the matzah not only is symbolic of breaking with our sinful past, but also of the breaking of Christ's body for us. The pattern in modern matzah is striped and pierced full of holes, also reminding us of the stripes on Jesus' back from the scourging He endured, as well as the nail-holes in His hands and feet and the spear-hole in His side.

Another symbolic part of the meal was eating the herbs. The bitter herbs - in our case, horseradish - were strong enough to make one's eyes water. This was a reminder of the suffering of the Israelites in Egypt, and of the bitterness of our lives without salvation. The parsley also was dipped in salt water, representing the tears of affliction. The greens in a Passover meal, parsley and Romaine lettuce, represent life (newness of life out of bondage) and are also symbolic of the cleansing hyssop the Israelites used to apply the blood on the doorposts of their house for the death angel to see and pass over. 

 

The lamb and the roasted vegetables rounded out our platefuls, and were a delicious part of the feast. 

The dessert was charoseth, or haroset, traditionally a mixture of apples, nuts, cinnamon, and wine. It represents the mortar the Israelites used to make bricks while they were slaves in Egypt. It was a sweet and tasty end to the meal. I read later that the haroset is a reminder to us that even the most difficult circumstances in life are made sweet by the promise of future redemption. 

Probably the most compelling part of the evening for me was the time at the close of the meal in which we got up from the table and stood behind our chairs to sing a hymn together: We're Marching to Zion". The Jews traditionally drink the last cup and say "Next year in Jerusalem" at the end of Passover, closing the celebration with the wish for all Jews everywhere to be able to return to their homeland, like they did after leaving Egypt. So we did too. All of us around Steve & Rose's table joined our voices together saying "Next year in Jerusalem!"

Thinking about us Jesus-followers living in exile here and longing for that day when we shall return to our Homeland and reign forever with our King just kind of wrecked me. In a good way.

Joy washed over me as I pictured us all celebrating together in the presence of our Passover Lamb. I let the tears come.