Musings on an Assortment of Subjects

My former housemates as Lord of the Rings characters:
(pictures thanks to Jeff)

David	Frodo
Nathan	Sam
Ben	Merry
Jeff	Pippin
Justin	Aragorn
Sol	Tom Bombadil

My alma mater, Goshen College, is apparently experiencing something of a crisis in recycling. For a number of years, since recycling in the dorms was cut from the physical plant’s budget, it has been handled by a team of student volunteers associated with Ecopax (which I helped organize while I was a student). However, after too many semesters of struggling to get enough volunteers to help, Ecopax has decided to stop picking up the recycling in an attempt to get the administration to pay more attention.

Apparently the administration has expressed its support for finding a long-term resolution to the problem, which is good. But Becky Horst identifies a key question:

Should recycling at GC become normative, teaching creation care by institutional example only? Or should it become a system charged with helping to educate and create a culture of creation care on our campus?

I talked to a friend from Ecopax, who explained that one concern she has heard from someone in the administration is that actually paying students to pick up the recycling would be bad, since the college wants to encourage caring for the environment because it is the right thing to do, rather than because there is a reward. This sounds like a bad excuse for saving a few dollars. In the real world, change happens due to incentives; students can learn as much from seeing that in action as they can from organizing themselves (though both should be encouraged). A recycling program run by paid employees instead of volunteers is likely to be much more reliable.

In addition, from my time in Ecopax I know that the students at Goshen College who care about campus sustainability are never at a loss of ideas for new projects. However, recycling was often top priority and took time and energy away from more ambitious, interesting, and educational projects. Therefore, I think that institutional support for recycling is likely to aid rather than hurt the establishment of a “culture of creation care” at GC.

It doesn’t have to be either-or, and I encourage Goshen’s Ecological Stewardship Committee to seek a resolution that promotes creation care via both institutional example AND empowering motivated students to pursue their ideas.

For those of you reading this who don’t work for ONE/Northwest, I’d like to introduce you to Andrew, my new colleague and office-mate and one of the two people I work with most closely on Plone-based projects. Sorry, Jon B., but Andrew gets all the attention here because, as we quickly discovered, we are basically the same person.

Cases in point:

• Andrew and I both grew up in Goshen, IN and attended the same middle school and high school.
• We both got our undergrad degrees at Goshen College, where we each participated in the chamber choir and the environmental club.
• We both were raised in the Mennonite Church, and attended Assembly Mennonite Church in Goshen for at least a brief period.
• We both entered the Mennonite Voluntary Service just after graduating from college and took placements in Seattle at ONE/Northwest…
• …and now we share an office and (largely) a job description.

Pretty crazy, huh? Of course there are distinguishing factors between us. (For instance, Andrew is married. I was disappointed to learn that his wife Sarah does not have a younger sister, which would have helped keep the trend on track.) But it was pretty freaky to learn that apparently we also both enjoy baking the same bread recipe (oatmeal bread from More With Less). Speaking of which, I just took two loaves of that out of the oven, and had better go see if it has cooled down.

I’ve been meaning to write up a summary of my travels in Europe for the benefit of those of you who have been stuck in other parts of the world… It’s already been a week, so lest I put it off any further, I shall now commence. (If the construction of that sentence is any indication this may be a little rocky…)

1. Strasbourg, Alsace, and environs - I already wrote some about Strasbourg. We had a fair amount of free time and explored the quays, the narrow streets, the museums of the Palais Rohan and the cathedral with its intricate astronomical clock. [Window into the weirdness that is David’s brain: my pun center (yes, that’s a part of the brain) just perked up and tried to do something with “gastronomical clock”…count yourselves fortunate that I have some self control.] As far as the class went, we reviewed the medieval context of the Reformation and pondered the significance, good and bad, of having a church that is no longer unified. We also visited the headquarters of Mennonite World Conference and learned about the current state of the global Mennonite church and the recent effort to identify the shared convictions of that body. Leaving Strasbourg, we drove south along the Vosges Mountains to Colmar, stopping on the way to explore the restored castle Haut-Königsberg on purely touristic impulses. In Colmar we made a stop just long enough to try tarte flambé and see the Isenheim altarpiece. Then on to Switzerland…

2. Liestal, Zurich, Bern, and environs - We stayed at the Bienenberg, an Anabaptist seminary and retreat center situated beautifully in the hills above Liestal. We made a day trip to Zurich to see where Anabaptism first emerged–stops included the Großmünster church where Ulrich Zwingli preached and the Limmat River where Felix Manz, one of the first Anabaptist martyrs, was drowned (a plaque acknowledging this was finally put in place by the Swiss government just a few years ago). We also stopped at the Täuferhöhle, a cave where the Anabaptists met for worship in secret. Our second day trip was to places where Anabaptists were held by the authorities–in Bern and at Trachselwald–and to the “Täufer Versteck,” a barn-turned-historical museum which contains a secret chamber where Anabaptists could hide. (In Bern the three physics majors were also pleased to see the house where Einstein developed his theory of relativity.) In both Zurich and Bern we also stopped at libraries to see rare and treasured source material. On our free day, several of us wandered across the ridge to the neighboring village of Pratteln, where we found a toy store and were diverted looking at German games for quite some time. Throughout our time in Switzerland, we lamented ruefully that our ancestors were forced to flee such a scenic part of the world, and marveled at the strength of their convictions. We found bits of their theology that still seem relevant (baptism of believers, nonviolence) and ones that we have more questions about in our context (strict separation from the world).

3. the Palatinate, southern Germany - After quick stops at Mennonite congregations in (B???) and Ingersheim, France, we entered Germany and the Palatinate. We stayed with host families in the Weierhof, a little village that has been mostly Mennonite since they arrived as farmers fleeing persecution in Switzerland, and reflected on their efforts at church renewal in the new, persecution-less context. We visited a Mennonite congregation at Monsheim and toured the cathedral and Jewish cemetery in Worms, the Katherinenkirche and underground labyrinth in Oppenheim. We also had a little time to do (harried) research at the Mennonitische Forschungsstelle at the Weierhof. Then we enjoyed our bus ride along the ride toward our next stop, as John D. Roth recounted the story of Richard Wagner’s Nibelungen and our irrepressible Dutch bus driver Jan Quaak told stories of previous Amish and Mennonite tour groups (”Then there was Harvey Miller. Yah, he got lost on the mountain…”).

4. Münster, Germany - Münster is the city where in 1535 one group of Anabaptists led by Jan Matthijs and Jan van Leiden gained power, took over the city, instituted shocking reforms including community of goods and polygamy, and forcefully held the city against siege for 16 months. Needless to say Mennonites have tried to downplay our historical links to this event, but because this is what many Europeans know as Anabaptism it is worth a visit. We went on a walking tour of the city, including the St. Lambert’s church whose spire still houses the 3 cages used to hang the leaders of the Münster Anabaptists. At our hotel, one older resident complained about our hymn-singing; she explained that she thought we “must be part of some sect.” We decided this was not the time nor place to reveal our identity as Anabaptists!

5. Friesland, Amsterdam, and Haarlem - We made quick stops in Pingjum, where Menno Simons was a priest, and at the monument to him in Witmarsum. Then we drove across the Afsluitdijk to Amsterdam, stopping at the very touristy Zaanse Schans to see windmills and buy spicy mustard. In Amsterdam we visited the Singelkerk, home to a seminary and a much more fancy sanctuary than any we had yet seen. This church has recently found new life in outreach through bible studies to young professionals with no previous religious background. We also traveled to Haarlem, where we toured another very fancy hidden church as well as the Teylers Museum whose collection was started by a wealthy Dutch Mennonite. We pondered what it takes to remain a faithful church in the midst of wealth, certainly a relevant question for North American Mennonites today as well. We had a free day in Amsterdam and explored the Van Gogh museum as well as enjoying various ethnic restaurants.

6. Bielefeld and Augustdorf, Germany - After the fall of communism, Germany opened its doors to a flood of culturally German emigrants from the former Soviet Union. Among them were a large number with Mennonite roots. These have become known as the Aussiedler or Umsiedler and in recent years they have been reintegrating into German society. We visited a museum telling this story in Bielefeld and spent the night with the youth group from the Evangelische Freikirche Augustdorf. We had a great time eating, sharing cultures, and worshipping with these youth. At the same time it was evident that this church has stronger ties to the evangelical church than to its Anabaptist roots, and we wondered how long any of that identity will remain.

7. Schoorl - We finished up our time at the Doopsgezind Broederschapshuis in Schoorl, the Netherlands. Schoorl is only a few kilometers from the sea, so we rented bikes on our free day and had a great time exploring the dunes, beach, and countryside. On the final day we presented our projects (mine was on mutual aid) and prepared to say goodbyes.

Overall the class was excellent. Of course a big part of that was having such a wonderful group of engaged classmates who genuinely care about the past, present, and future of the church. But I’d recommend doing a tour of this sort to anyone who identifies with the Anabaptist tradition and wants to reflect on their connections to it more deeply. Visiting these sites makes the history more tangible, and also you get to see parts of Europe (the rural and the religious) that you might otherwise miss.

Goshen College just committed to becoming a ‘carbon neutral’ campus and announced the establishment of an Ecological Stewardship Committee to oversee this commitment. I’m so excited!