News from the Pews

I’ve had the Last Dance on my Netflix docket since late 2020 but with the arrival of Air Jordan movie in theaters, I circled back and started watching it. The Last Dance examines the Chicago Bulls rise to the top, led by Michael Jordan.  I like biopics, and have always been drawn to people’s stories and their why. But because of my range of thoughts on Jordan and his legacy I wasn’t really compelled to tune in.

The other week, when I took my young sons to a children’s festival at a local church, it was joyous mayhem of the best kind. 

Throngs of youngsters jumped up and slid down the most enormous bouncy slide I’ve ever seen; bopped to a band playing at full volume in the sanctuary; ate a million sugar cookies; and raced between fun activity stations.

Think of your grandma, mother, sister, daughter, granddaughter and reflect on how special these loved ones are to you.  What was the first memory that came to mind?  Was it sitting at the table enjoying a special meal, was it walking on the beach or in the forest, was it listening to stories of days gone by, or sitting quietly just enjoying each other’s company?

The Do Justice editor has invited me to contribute to “Do Justice” every three months, and this post marks the launch! This week I’m retiring from regular employment, and one of my post-employment goals is to live out Micah 6.8 more intentionally with my wife Evelyn in our local context here in Hamilton, ON:  “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

One thing I have learned as I prepare for this transition: seeking justice requires CPD oil.

For me, it begins by accepting the gospel and reconciling with God through Jesus. It is repenting my sins and daily following Jesus by living according to his teachings. 

Sometimes I feel it,

the green fuse that ignites us,

the wild thrum that unites us,

an inner hum that reminds us

of our shared humanity.

Belonging by: Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

Do you sometimes feel it too?  Our interconnectedness? The way when ‘one part suffers the rest suffer with it?’  It’s this interconnectedness that makes reconciliation and belonging so important.  

I took going to church for granted growing up. 

I grew up in a CRC home where church was expected twice a Sunday along with catechism classes, cadets, and youth group mixed in there somewhere. Mostly I would complain if my parents forced me to go. I would sullenly sit and stir up trouble in any way I could without the pastor, cadet counselor, or youth leader feeling compelled to call my dad. I not only took it for granted; I rebelled against it.

I am both a person with multiple disabilities, and a faithful servant of Christ. I’ve been trying my entire adult life to be paid something like equity for the accessibility-advocacy work that I do in the church…and happily, sometimes I’ve succeeded! I have a few thoughts about economic equity for believers with disabilities. So, in this short post, I want to connect part of Paul’s “household code” in Ephesians 6:5-8 to the need for believers with disabilities to experience economic even-handedness. We need to be paid properly for our work!

In August, my husband and I went to see The Kite Runner on Broadway. Promoted as “an uplifting Broadway adaptation” of the bestselling novel 2005 by Khaled Housseini, a sign displayed outside of the theater continues by stating that this story “about the friendship of two boys living parallel lives in Afghanistan is a heartbreaker–but so uplifting it’s worth the pain.”