Interestingly enough, two of this weeks assigned poems really resonated with me. First, "Mennonites" by Julia Kasdorf. There were a couple of lines in this poem that reminded me of my very own line of Mennonite-ness along the varying Mennonite backgrounds. The line, "We clean up his disasters. No one has to call; we just show up in the wake of tornadoes with hammers, after floods with buckets" immediately caught my attention. Along with being a major aspect in the Mennonite tradition, service is also of great importance in my family. When I think of servanthood, I immediately think of my Grandpa. His uncle-- my great-great uncle, Lowell Detweiler--worked with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) for a good number of years and wrote a book entitled, The Hammer Rings Hope: Photos and Stories from Fifty Years of Mennonite Disaster Service. Being from Kansas, we have had our fair share of help from organizations like MDS, especially during tornado season.
The second part of this poem that really resonated with me was when Kasdorf writes, "why we eat 'til we're drunk on shoofly and moon pies and borscht." If I had a dime for every Relief Sale dinner, Sunday potluck, or German buffet Friday that I have eaten far too much shoofly and borscht, I would be a very wealthy woman. There is just something about the overly sweet gooey deliciousness of shoofly, and the savory taste of my family's dear friend/adopted grandmother/Ukranian Mennonite immigrant Justina's borscht that bring all kinds of happiness to my heart, and my stomach.
As for David Wright's poem "A New Mennonite Replies to Julia Kasdorf," one line in particular sticks out to me for a number of reasons-- "Should we tell her?"..."That we're Mennonites too?"
How thankful I am to be a part of a tradition with such a rich, unique history, but how unfortunate that this tradition is associated with a rather specific identity.
I agree with you, Dominique, especially your last statement. My mother has a lot of conservative Mennonite cousins, and every time we visit she and my sister wear dresses or skirts. I think a lot of people associate Mennonites with this more conservative mental image (I've had a lot of people ask me if being Mennonite was like being Amish...).
ReplyDeleteI think your ending comment is interesting. That the Mennonite tradition is associated with a specific identity, and that it's a bad thing. I feel that in a way that specificity lets Mennonites define themselves and remember what it is they stand for. But I also see how it is bent out into a quota. How Mennonites are seen by increasing certain elements of that identity, and how that constricts our ability to branch out within it.
ReplyDeleteDominique, your last statement articulates a really important aspect of Mennonite identity, and why I have a difficult time understanding it on occasion. The church I grew up, even though the denomination was founded by a specific ethnic group (Swedish immigrants), members of the church don't quite have the same history as Mennonites do. It's really interesting to me that a church has a history of both ancestral and religious beliefs, because my old congregation only shares religious beliefs and some coincidental ancestry.
ReplyDeleteI also think your last comment is very insightful. In my high school most people didn't know what a Mennonite was, but the few who did quickly told me I wasn't, because I use electricity. I think this image stands out the most because it is different. The large beards and the coverings stand out much more then I do.
ReplyDeleteWould it be possible to have such a tradition without a specific identity? Perhaps specific isn't bad in itself, but when it becomes exclusive, or closed to others, then we have a problem. It was fun to read about the ways that you connected to the poems through the specific images of MDS and ethnic foods. Specifics give us points of connection--as long as we don't limit who can participate.
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