Post 2/2025 Goshen IN. The week included: Martin Luther King Day. Inauguration. Frigid temperatures. Looking Back, Looking Forward, Anabaptism at 500. Death of my sister-in-law Doris Mast at age 92. Ducks on the pond again. Soup.

On January 21 area Mennonites gathered at College Mennonite Church in Goshen for a worship service celebrating 500 years of Anabaptist faith and the launch of the Anabaptist Community Bible. Online reports convey the details of this and similar celebrations elsewhere.

On Tuesday we visited the nursing home where Doris has resided for over three years. On Monday a week ago we celebrated Doris Mast’s 92nd birthday. She was Marty’s oldest sibling. Her health suddenly declined and a week later she entered hospice care. On Tuesday we gathered with family and friends in her room in the nursing home. She could probably hear us but was mostly unable to respond. Doris died Wednesday morning.

One quality Doris embodied was hospitality. She was most at home when 20 to 30 people came for Sunday lunch. Her hospitality extended outside the home, too. She wrote many letters to friends, famlly and prison inmates. I see Doris as a person who followed in the long train of Anabaptists who lived peaceable, compassionate, loving, serving, God-honoring lives.

By contrast, if I had to live on the diet of what is coming out of the new administration in the White House, I would shrink and turn deathly ill. I cry to God for mercy. I look to people like Doris and others who have gone before for inspiration in faithfulness, love, peacemaking, truth. Doris, rest in peace.

Last night I made leek and potato soup, supplementing two other soups I made this week. Hot, tasty, nourishing. Too cold to walk outside. Looking forward to getting back on trails in Cornwall next month.

In novels set in the UK, when the characters face a perplexing situation, someone will say, “I’ll put the kettle on.” So much can be dealt with given a pause and conversation over a cup of tea. I’ve done that more often these days and look forward to continuing the practice in Cornwall–not just to deal with issues, but really enjoy a hot cuppa with some ginger biscuits.

Ducks team together

For three days the ducks that frequent our pond stayed away from the small open water created by an aerator. On Thursday they came back for a few hours. It was good to see them. I am grateful that they have ways of coping during these extra cold days and nights. I seldom see a solitary duck. They spend their time foraging, moving, being together–communal creatures.

Flashback

Catch them if you can

A quote from the story: “But cold itself isn’t a deterrent: By their count they’ve logged enough miles to have walked around the Earth. Between September 1988, when they started walking in earnest, and the end of 2010, they had logged 26,579 miles, more than the Earth’s circumference at the equator, 24,901 miles.”

Further the reporter wrote, quoting me: “He describes walking as a liberating experience, a means of more intensely experiencing your community. ‘We gain our independence when we learn to walk as toddler,’ he says. ‘Why should we give that up?'”

Vandenack quotes Marty from a joint sermon we gave at Prairie Street Mennonite Church, our former church in Elkhart. “‘Traveling on foot is about walking some freshness back into your life through a first-hand encounter with nature, a close encounter with others around you, and a new, sometimes reflective encounter with yourself.’ Marty Bender said at the time.”

He added, “This day’s walk, amid snow on a weekday, begins on a busy street, cars backing up as the late afternoon rush begins. The Benders–bundled up against the cold, clad in heavy boots–seem to be in a hurry to get away from the hubbub and finally, they’re in the quiet alley backing some big homes on Jackson Boulevard.

“John Bender recalls the sculpture a dentist made, apparently of teeth culled from his customer’s mouths. Marty Bender points out the ornate glass work on a fence.

“‘This area really was a pleasant discovery,’ John Bender says.”

Friday, January 24, 2025: The sun is shining. Very little breeze. We’ll get out for a short walk. It’s 16F (-8.8C), feels like 3F (-16C). At least a short time to catch our breath. And then, a cup of tea and a chocolate chip cookie.

Benediction

Benediction from the Look Back, Living Forward worship service:
Walk the Jesus way to cross dividing lines.
Live in love and peace in our fellowship in Jesus Christ.
May love and understanding be in our hearts and the world.
May peace and friendship be a place of refuge for us amid storms. 
May we have the power to speak the truth, proclaim peace, and be compassionate.
May we experience inspiration in the Holy Spirit, blessings and love from God, and peace from Jesus Christ so that we can join in bringing righteousness, justice, and community to the world. 

-John