Ah Menno Simons

Ah Menno Simons

I never knew you

But your faith has trickled down through the ages

If nothing else you believed Jesus

when he said “turn the other cheek”

and “love your enemies”

and “bless those who persecute you”

my family

the Kluyvers (perhaps, or Cluyvers)

were driven from their home as heretics

for daring to be anabaptist

rather than burn at the stake they wandered

to Prussia then Russia

changing their name to Kliewer

then to Manitoba, Canada where my grandparents were born

peaceful farmers

people of intense faith

I remember Grandfather Peter Albert Kliewer

tall, distinguished, and intense,

a Mennonite, and a preacher

Who even during the trauma of World War II

remained a pacifist

and was deeply pained that his sons did not

(one was a fighter pilot, one a sailor, and my father was a doctor)

I remember a story told of a man

back in Holland, back in the beginning named Dirk Willems

who was being pursued by an officer of the court

for heresy

As the two crossed over a body of frozen water

the pursuer fell through the ice facing certain death

Dirk had a choice.

To turn back and love his enemy

or to continue

He turned back and rescued his pursuer

who then arrested him

Dirk was tried for heresy and burned at the stake

The Gospel is all about love, compassion, and forgiveness

The Gospel is all about sacrifice

The Gospel is extreme

Puzzling

Evolving (and thus at times contradictory)

Demanding

Challenging

Comforting

It is about questions, answered

And questions raised

But whatever else we can say

the Gospels are about an outrageous love

not outrageous certitude

not about domination

not about coercion

and certainly not about a Divine hate

that allows us to hate other people with piety

The Gospels are about Dirk Willem

Not his pursuer, and not the religious system

That burned him at the stake

There is very little Jesus left in those who embrace the politics of power and wealth

There is very little Jesus left in those who think the second amendment

Is more important than the beatitudes

There is very little Jesus left in those who support the death penalty

There is very little Jesus left in those who are so sure of their beliefs

that they would impose them on all

There is very little Jesus left

in me

when I judge and scorn

all of the above

and yet Jesus is still hanging around

as Jesus always does

loving, looking with compassion

forgiving

Just as he did his whole life through

Just as he did on the cross

Ah! May the love of Jesus

so freely given

nudge us toward love

nudge us toward peace

in spite of ourselves

for we are all in this together

life is messy

and we are messes

but thanks be to God

who rescues us from ourselves

thanks be to the light of the world

who sometimes shines through the cracks in our brittle souls

thanks be to Jesus

and all those people of faith

Menno Simon

Dirk Willems

Peter Albert Kliewer

who show us the way