Katya and what it means to be a Mennonite

In all honesty, I knew very little about the migration of Russian Mennonites to places like Canada and South America prior to taking this course. I knew even less about the lives of Mennonites while they were actually in Russia. Because of this, I found Katya to be a great novel but also a great history lesson into the lives of Russian Mennonites.

One aspect of the novel that intrigued me was the representation of Mennonites through the Sudermann and Vogt families. Okay, I know that even today, there is a sort of spectrum, if you will, of Mennonites, but this novel really shed light on some of these differences. To me, Peter Vogt pretty much epitomized what a traditional Mennonite would look like. Other than his temper--which he kept under control by using a hole in the wall as a reminder--Peter Vogt seemed to reflect the core belief system in all aspects of his life, as the reader knew him. On the other hand, we have Abram Sudermann. A man who comes off as overly wealthy, greedy, dishonest, and a womanizer among other things.

In thinking about the differences between these two characters, I began to ask questions. If these two characters represent the same tradition, but live their lives in very different ways, does this reflect on the tradition, or the people? I then began to think of this concept of Neo Anabaptism that we discussed in class and realized that a) I still don't really understand what Neo Anabaptism is, but b) that if the way that I sort of understood the concept--a group of folks who want to go back to the way of the original Anabaptists--that is somewhat confusing, right? During the reformation, there was probably a lot less confusion about what it meant to call oneself an Anabaptist, but over the years, the concept has gained a number of different interpretations, endured a split in the Mennonite Church, and I would still say that there is definitely a spectrum of Mennonites today.

This was a very complicated way of asking, is there a right and wrong way to be Mennonite? If there are Mennonite folks who were overly wealthy, greedy, and womanizing but still called themselves Mennonite, who are we to tell them they're doing it wrong? What about non-pacifists? Is there a right and wrong way to be Mennonite?

Paraguay Primeval

While I thoroughly enjoyed having pianist and composer Carol Ann Weaver and singer Rebecca Campbell in class last week, I will say that I sort of struggled at the actual show.

In all honesty, I found the music to be bizarre. I am guessing that I was so taken aback because I had no idea what to expect from the performance. Then when I arrived at the show and finally heard the music, it was a type of musicality that I had never before experienced.

However, there were a couple of highlights for me. Regarding the songs, I really enjoyed "Lengua Women" and "Lobsang." I found the former to be rather catchy and the latter to be incredibly moving. With Weaver announcing the names of the five Amish girls who were killed, and explaining to the audience how close to home this was, listeners could definitely sense her feelings in this piece.