Is John 3:16 Only About Life In The Hereafter?

The small blue dot in space we get to inhabit inhabit is a part of the vast cosmos God loves.

"Christ is the perfect teacher, and his sacrifice is the perfect sacrifice."    

- Menno Simons 

One of the most quoted texts in the Christian Bible is John 3:16, often referred to as "the gospel in a nutshell." It is part of a response to Nicodemus, a noted religious leader who came late one night to learn more about Jesus, whom he addressed as "Rabbi" and as "a teacher sent from God." 

Here's the key verse from that conversation (King James Version):

For God so loved the world (the cosmos, a word used to describe the complete, orderly and harmonious universe)

that he gave his only begotten Son (God in human form, incarnate as a human being)

that whosoever believeth in him (all new-born people everywhere who embrace and live by his life-giving message)

should not perish (come to an end or be destroyed)

but have everlasting life (a life that will be forever secure and lasting)."

Jesus goes on to say, in the next verse "For God sent not his Son into the world (again the cosmos) to condemn the world (cosmos), but that the world (cosmos) might be saved."

We have typically interpreted these words to apply only to how each of us can receive assurance of living forever in a far off heaven, based on the sacrificial death, by crucifixion, Jesus was later to suffer. 

But is it only that, or is Jesus' redeeming work even more consequential that just that?

In other words, is God, through the Word made flesh, intending to salvage and restore all of creation to its original state of shalom, where "nothing is marred and nothing is missing?"

I'm beginning to see it as both, as later affirmed by the apostle Paul: 

"God was pleased to have his whole nature living in Christ. God was pleased to bring all things back to himself. That’s because of what Christ has done. These things include everything on earth and in heaven. God made peace (Greek word is eirene, Hebrew is shalom) through Christ’s blood, by his death on the cross."   - Colossians 1:19-20 (NIRV)

Two More Deaths At Deerfield Prison Last Week

Deerfield Correctional Center houses over 1000 men, many with serious medical conditions requiring costly tax funded medical care. According to someone there I regularly correspond with they currently have no full time MD on staff. 

Last week's deaths were not untypical, with one person dying of cancer who had just been put on chemo, and the other with severe heart disease.

 Here are the names of some persons who have agreed to meet with Director of the Virginia Department of Corrections Chadwick Dotson at an upcoming visit of the facility. 

1) Charles Zellers, 1036758

Born: 04/10/68 (Age 57)

COMPAS Score: LOW RISK for General or Violent Recidivism
Chronic Medical Condition(s): Long COVID, severe sleep apnea, severe Peripheral Neuropathy, Pulmonary Fibrosis, Dupuytren's Contracture (both hands), and he must be on 2 Liters of continuous supplemental oxygen.
Home Plan: 1/3 ownership of home at 723 East 6th Avenue, Kenbridge, VA, with his two sisters
Financial Goal: To be on Full Disability
Mandatory Release Date: N/A
Infraction free over 25 years
First time in prison.
January 2026, would have served 33 consecutive years.

2) John Thomas Carter, 1419465
Born: 06/04/56
COMPAS Score: ?
Chronic Medical Condition(s): Legally blind, had reconstructive surgery to face, has a tube in his trachea to breathe, severe headaches, intestinal issues, and etc.
Home Plan: Live with son and daughter-in-law in Farmville, VA
Financial Goal: Social Security
Mandatory Release Date: 10/??/42

3) Denny Coggin Melton, 1177600
Born: 03/05/1954
COMPAS Score: ?
Chronic Medical Condition(s): Black lung, Cancer, Diabetic, COPD, etc.
Home Plan: To Brother Allen Thomason @ 28 Clover Hill Drive, Stafford, VA 22554 (540) 846-1550
Financial Goal: Social Security
Mandatory Release Date: N/A

4).Jackson Puckett, 1456242
Born: 10/19/51
COMPAS Score: LOW
Chronic Medical Condition(s): Stage 4 Kidney Disease, broken screw in neck (makes him shake), needs pacemaker, needs cataract surgery, type 1 diabetic, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, hiatus hernia, acid reflux disease, and etc.
Home Plan: Own home at 403 Fields Avenue, Blue Ridge, VA 24064
Financial Goal: Social Security
Mandatory Release Date: 08/11/31

5) Linwood T. James, #1095666
Born: (Age 67)
COMPAS Score: Low/Low
Chronic Medical Condition(s): Back issues, disabled veteran
Home Plan: Live with sister
Financial Goal: Social Security, Veterans Administration
Mandatory Release Date: N/A
Infraction free 20 years
Served 37 years

6) Troy L. Weeks, 1037843
Born: (Age 58)
COMPAS Score: Medium/Low
Chronic Medical Condition(s): Crohns Disease, Hypoglycemic, Pancreas problems
Home Plan: with brother in Vinton, VA
Financial Goal: Working with DOC or P&P as a Peer Recovery Specialist
Mandatory Release Date: Single Life (Fishback)
Infraction free 17 years
Served 29 years

Some others willing to meet:
1) Dennis Ray Graves, 1176500 - Legally blind
2) Minor Junior Smith, 1158588 - Legally blind
3) Richard Palmer, 1092784 - Legally blind, Diabetic, Diabetic Neuropathy, Lower Back issues, Circulation issues, etc.
4) George Edward Cooley, 1135561 - Dementia
5) Oscar Lee Robbins, 1119888
6) John Bennie Williams, 1091323 - Legally blind

Guest Post: Justice Matters DN-R Column: Introducing The Public Defender's Office

Abigail Thibeault (Tee-bow) is a real blessing to our community.

When I moved to Harrisonburg in 2021, I thought I would work for the public defender.

I was living in northern Virginia, where I worked as an assistant public defender in Maryland and was committed to public defense. I was shocked to learn that Harrisonburg and Rockingham County didn’t have a public defender’s office. Public defenders staffed courtrooms in Staunton, Winchester, Charlottesville, and even Page County, but not here.

In Maryland, every county, no matter how small, has a public defender’s office. Instead of waiting, I joined the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Western District of Virginia and daydreamed about the day the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission (VIDC) might open an office in Harrisonburg.

I’m a public defender to my core, and I believe in the power of a public defender’s office. An office of attorneys and professionals committed to indigent defense working together can stand up for defendants and stand against the abuse of power in a way that individual attorneys may not be able to. Harrisonburg and Rockingham County still had court-appointed attorneys — zealous lawyers in private practice willing to take on court-appointed cases individually — but no office solely dedicated to indigent defense. I wondered why a place as big as Rockingham County didn’t have this awesome resource until last fall.

Last fall, I left the Federal Public Defender’s Office, and we quietly began to build the first Office of the Public Defender for Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. The work started years ago, when the VIDC, community members, courthouse stakeholders such as VIDC Commissioner and local attorney Aaron Cook, and local government, along with state Dels. Tony Wilt, R-Rockingham, and Sam Rasoul, R-Roanoke, who cosponsored the bill that established our office, started advocating for public defense in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Our office was founded on the hard work of countless individuals.

For me, the work started last September, in my living room, where I reviewed employee applications and introduced myself via email to everyone I imagined might be helpful — the sheriff, the commonwealth attorney, the Department of Social Services, the Community Services Board — anyone I thought might be a colleague, ally, or resource for our clients.

In October, I became “we,” and we began working in our office at 50 West Market Street. The office manager and investigator joined me at a long conference table in an otherwise empty office, where we began to imagine our office and set big goals.

We spent months hiring nine other attorneys, two mitigation specialists, two paralegals, and two legal assistants. Finally, we rounded out our team on Sept. 10, when our tenth attorney joined the office.

The Office of the Public Defender represents individuals facing criminal charges in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County who cannot afford to hire private counsel. Most people charged in criminal court are eligible for court-appointed representation, which includes the services of the public defender. The VIDC is dedicated to protecting and defending the rights and dignity of our clients in criminal court through zealous, compassionate, high-quality legal advocacy. We take our mission seriously. We work to protect our clients’ rights, knowing that our advocacy ensures fairness for every member of our community. Every day, we hold the line on our Constitutional rights and the fair enforcement of the law.

We believe that your wealth should not dictate the quality of the legal advocacy you have in criminal court. To that end, we fight for freedom every day. We cherish our own and take to heart the words of Toni Morrison, “the function of freedom is to free somebody else.” We further strive to show the Court, the Commonwealth, and the community the whole of our clients, who are too often the most vulnerable residents of Rockingham County.

We are pleased to partner with many outstanding community advocates in town, including the Valley Justice Coalition, which played a key role in the establishment of our office. Through these partnerships and our work in the court, we aim to enhance public safety. That may sound strange given we defend people charged with committing crimes, but we believe that a fair, humane, and forgiving court system improves safety and reduces crime.

To celebrate our first year, we are hosting an open house from 4 to 6 p.m. on Oct. 24 at our office, 50 W. Market St., in Harrisonburg. Please take a moment to visit our office, speak with our team, and ask any questions you may have about public defense. Light fare will be provided. We are grateful to be here.

Abigail M. Thibeault is the chief public defender of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Justice Matters columns are provided by members of the Valley Justice Coalition, a local citizen voice for criminal justice reform in our community and in the Commonwealth since 2014.

I'm Becoming An Unapologetic 'Proxy Beggar'

 

I picture homeless Gazan families, malnourished Yemeni mothers, starving
South Sudanese children and millions of others in desperate need around
the world begging as if their lives depended on it. For all too many, they do.
Are they not our neighbors?

Like the pious priest and Levite in Jesus' story in the gospel of Luke, chapter 15, we find it easy to "pass by on the other side" when we see images of hungry, homeless and helpless neighbors in faraway places. 

Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan in answer to the question, "Who is my neighbor?" To love our neighbors as ourselves means we are to have the same regard for their wellbeing as for our own. But are our neighbors just those who live near us and who are much like us, or is the whole world both God's neighborhood and our own?

In the gospel story, Jesus affirms the "good neighbor" as the person who, even though from another place and of a different faith and culture, sees a need and does everything he can to meet it. Ignoring suffering, passing by on the other side when people are dying for lack of care, is not an option.

One opportunity to help fellow neighbors in need is to give to organizations like Mennonite Central Committee--or to any of scores of similar organizations--is to make a generous contribution. MCC, for example, accepts donations on their website and receives help from efforts like the Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale, where all profits from food, auction and other sales go to help those in need. They also have a Sharing Our Surplus (SOS) giving table for making donations by check, cash or credit card.  All donations will be matched dollar for dollar up to a grand total of $25,000.

You can also donate on the VMRS website by credit card or by sending a check made out to VMRS (with SOS on the memo line) and mail it to VMRS, 601 Parkwood Drive, Harrisonburg, VA 22802. Those gifts will also be matched.

On behalf of the desperately poor, on behalf of their compassionate Creator and on behalf of the servant of the poor, Jesus himself, I beg your help.

Not Your Ordinary Stewardship Seminar

Keynote speaker Sam Funkhouser notes: "We live like royalty, enjoy
a level of prosperity that is unjust and unsustainable, and that is
 predicated on the poverty of others...  Nothing could be more clear in
the teachings of Jesus and the prophets than a condemnation of this
kind of wealth."

The Virginia Mennonite Conference is offering a ground-breaking workshop at the Harrisonburg Mennonite Church Saturday, November 15, on "A Rebirth of Anabaptism: Living Justly, Joyfully and Sustainably." The event is open to anyone interested, with a registration fee of only $15.

Here are some of the special features of this 9 am-2 pm event:

• The keynote speaker is a Princeton Seminary graduate, a farmer, and a member of the Old German Baptist Brethren, New Conference.

• The noon meal will be a stone soup vegetable stew with ingredients brought by participants, served with an assortment of home baked breads provided by the planning committee.

• Washington-based attorney J. Daryl Byler, with panelists Pat Hostetter Martin, Carmen Schrock-Hurst and Steven Pardini will offer practical ways to live more justly, joyfully and sustainably.

• An original theme song has been created for the event by local songwriter Seth Chrissman, and music will be led by George Makinto, an award winning international musician and  performer.

• Generous donations will be received from those attending in support of Mennonite Central Committee in support of its worldwide relief and development work.

• There will be table groups for Bible studies on the topic and for discussion of what it means to live justly in today's deeply troubled world. 

You can also register at Virginia Mennonite Conference, 601 Parkwood Drive, Harrisonburg, VA 22802

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Honor the Lord in the works of your hands, and let the light of the Gospel shine through you. Love your neighbor. Deal with an open, warm heart your bread to the hungry, clothe the naked, and do not tolerate having two of anything, because there are always those who are in need. 

- Anna Jansz, 16th century Anabaptist martyr 

The whole scriptures speak of mercifulness and love, and it is the only sign whereby a true Christian may be known… All those who are born of God, who are gifted with the Spirit of the Lord, take to heart the needs of the saints. They entertain those in distress. They take the stranger into their houses. They comfort the afflicted; assist the needy; clothe the naked; feed the hungry; do not turn their face from the poor, and do not despise their own flesh…” 

- Anabaptist reformer Menno Simons, Complete Works p. 558 

A Prisoner Creates Art In Support Of Those In Need--And Invites Us To Match His Generosity

This beautiful manger scene, crafted by someone incarcerated at the Dillwyn Correctional Center, was donated to the Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale's annual auction to help raise money for world relief. The creche is currently on display in the lobby of VMRC's Park Place, along with other items for the Sale.

Over  4000 people are expected to attend this year's Relief Sale at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds October 3-4. Among them are the many who contribute to make this fundraiser possible for Mennonite Central Committee, mostly by donating auction and other sale items and through selfless hours of volunteer time to make this an annual event a success. 

Many of the rest of us will help mostly by being consumers of the food and craft items offered at the event and not primarily as actual contributors to this effort. We will leave the Sale with full stomachs, good feelings about having enjoyed a pleasant day, and with whatever items we have added to our store of possessions.

Could more of us consumers become generous contributors as well? 

One way is by encouraging increased cash, check or credit card donations at the SOS (Sharing Our Surplus) giving table, or for those unable to attend, by sending a gift to the Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale, 601 Parkwood Drive, Harrisonburg, VA 22802, with checks made out to VMRS. 

On the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community campus I am personally collecting contributions for the SOS effort, which since 2017 has raised well over $200,000, thus substantially adding to the total income produced by food, craft and other sales.

Having said all that, this effort isn't primarily about raising record funds for the Relief Sale, or even for MCC. Rather it's about loving our hungry, homeless and hurting neighbors around the world just as we love and care for ourselves, neighbors whom God loves and longs to bless with daily bread and adequate shelter.

Let's all join good people like the one who created the Christmas creche shown above, someone who gave so much of his time, talent and meager means for a cause he deeply believes in. 

Here's how he describes his amazing creation:

Artist: Brian E. Brubaker

Dillwyn Correctional Center

A Virginia Model Facility

1522 Prison Rd.

Dillwyn, VA 23936

This project made for the 2025 Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale is

in part made possible by the many members of the Mennonite

community residing in the Virginia Mennonite Retirement

Community, the greater Harrisonburg area, and my friends and relatives scattered across our great nation. I simply would not be able to craft if not for those who have chosen to journey with me supporting my artistic endeavors during my incarceration. I must also give credit to the Administration here at DWCC who give artists the ability to purchase Elmer’s Glue for artists like myself who work in three dimensions. This project required the following materials to create and my only tool not created by myself that I can purchase off the commissary used was the tiny 2” in length, fingernail clipper used to cut every popsicle to size.

2 boxes of popsicle sticks (roughly 2000 stick)

25 pencils split in half

4-sheets of 15”x20” aquarelle artists painting paper

16 8 1\2”x11” cardboard legal paper pad backings

17 4 oz. bottles of Elmer’s Glue

2 16oz. Peanut butter jars of sifted sand to make plaster

1 cornstarch shower powder bottle added into the plaster

2 handsfull of stones used to the stable/chimney construction

4 an estimate of the number of 2 oz. Bottles of acrylic paint

6 broken or worn out mini fingernail clippers

2 bottles of Kiwi brand brown shoe polish

Brian would be honored to have his effort inspire each of us to make an equally generous contribution.

https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2023/10/some-reflections-after-2023-va-relief.html

In Resigning As A Pastor, I Want To RE-sign As A Newborn In the Jesus Family

The Zion Mennonite Church nurtured and supported me
in the first two decades of my ministry as a pastor. 

It was September of1965, sixty years ago, that I was first licensed as a minister in the Virginia Mennonite Conference. I was only 26, and had no seminary trining when I began serving as an assistant pastor, then senior pastor, at Zion Mennonite for the next two decades while also teaching part time at Eastern Mennonite High School. 

In 1972-74 I was granted a two-year leave of absence to serve as an interim principal at Western Mennonite School in Oregon  and was later granted a nine-month leave to attend the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Indiana in 1983-84. Meanwhile I was also taking graduate courses at JMU and intermittently at Eastern Mennonite Seminary before finally completing a masters degree in counseling at JMU in 1979 and one at EMS in 1996. I could have never done that without the encouragement and help of my good wife, family and church family.

In 1988 I left Zion and accepted an assignment as a counselor and congregational resource pastor at VMC's new Family Life Resource Center, where I worked for the next 38 years while also serving as an unsalaried pastor of  Family of Hope, a house church congregation I've been a part of up to this day.

At 86, I am far past the age at which Virginia Conference pastors are expected to retire, and our aging house church no longer has the required ten households to be recognized as an official VMC congregation.

In consultation with our overseer Roy Hange, and in light of normal uncertainties about my future vitality and health, I've felt it was time to resign my official role as pastor of the house church I have loved and been an active part of for nearly four decades. I've expressed my willingness to continue being an active participant in whatever form Family of Hope may take in the future, whether as an official VMC congregation (with another pastor or pastoral team), or as simply a fellowship or cell group of people who meet for occasional fellowship, prayer and/or Bible study, but in which each member has transferred their membership to another congregation. 

Needless to say, I feel some sadness and loss in coming to this place, as well as feeling a pastoral obligation to make sure none of our members are left spiritually homeless should the congregation choose to disband. I am meeting with individual members and with the group to consider a range of possible options.

I am likewise encouraging the HomeTown Pastoral Counseling Group, where I still work one day a week, to seek a replacement for me.

Meanwhile I'm making a conscious choice to reclaim a new sense of just being a beloved child in God's great extended family. As such I choose to re-sign for the following:

Me at around six or seven.

I am re-signing to experience the wonder of being an ever more avid learner, reveling in more of the mystery and miracle of all God has created rather than primarily being in the role of a teacher for others.

I am re-signing for closer relationships with friends, family and members of my church family, recovering more of my role as a sibling and an "under-seer" rather than primarily as an elder or overseer.

I am re-signing for a time of intentional preparation for the life to come, of getting my earthly affairs in order and focusing on whatever legacy I can leave behind for my children, grandchildren and other loved ones everywhere.

This is but the beginning of a list I want to be adding to in the time I have left here on earth.

Two Empires, Many Nations, One Judge Of All

God has therefore ordained two regiment(s): the spiritual which by the Holy Spirit produces Christians and pious folk under Christ, and the secular which restrains un-Christian and evil folk, so that they are obliged to keep outward peace, albeit by no merit of their own.

— Martin Luther

In my view, one of the problems with "Two Kingdom" (Empire) theologies as held by many Protestants and a lot of Anabaptists is that the two realms are seen as deserving equal priority and allegiance. The result is that many of those holding that view tend to see their secular government as having the greater relevance when it come to the affairs of this life, whereas the heaven-ruled, worldwide reign of God is seen as being mostly about the life to come.

From the Bible's perspective, nothing could be further from the truth. It is the nations of this age that are a transitory "drop in a bucket," who are to be shown respect but not ultimate allegiance, whereas the global God-movement is portrayed as eternal, preeminent, and as affecting every aspect of one's life, relationships and loyalty from the cradle to the grave.

Any form of Christian nationalism in which ones own nation is elevated above all others, and which is revered as "exceptional" and worthy of literally sacrificing one's life for, is a form of idolatry and is a worldview far too small and too limited. 

We need to remember that the US, for example, is only one of 193 nations around the globe, and represents less than 5% of the world's population. God clearly doesn't favor us above all others, and in the final judgment our leaders and legislators will be judged by the same standard as all other nations and peoples on earth. 

According to Jesus, God's final verdict will be based not merely on what we believe, but on what kind of fruit has resulted from those beliefs. In other words, have we been fully converted and transformed from a life of self-centeredness, as demonstrated by the followings:

I was hungry and you_______________

I was thirsty and you______________

I was a stranger and you______________ 

I was naked and you______________

I was sick or in prison and you_______________ 

This is not to say that other issues debated by the world's politicians may not need to be addressed, especially ones that have to do with the criteria above. But followers of Jesus will address such issues not in defense of a particular political party or political platform, but from the prayerful perspective of how policies reflect God's will being done on earth--here, now and everywhere--as it is in heaven.  

In contrast, the following are among  are Ten Commitments many in the nation, including Christians, believe should have priority:

1. To practice the kind of "good stewardship" that enables us to gain and maintain a level of wealth enjoyed by only 1-2% of the world’s population.

2. To maintain the kind of “law and order” that justifies detaining and deporting, without due process, foreigners who have fled here for refuge or whose legal status has expired.

3. To support the kinds of tax and other policies that reward billionaires for their ability to accumulate ever greater wealth at the expense of legislation affecting the less successful poor.

4. To ensure that no transgender persons participate in college sports.

5. To promote being “pro life” as showing more concern for the fate of fertilized human eggs than for the life and welfare of already born children.

6. To withhold needed aid to other countries around the world in favor of putting our own country's prosperity first.

7. To mandate (Judeo-Christian?) prayers in our public schools, and see that the Ten Commandments are posted in every classroom.

8. To maintain the most lethal military force possible, make sure to ever increase the money spent on war preparation, and to arm other countries we favor who are brutally attacking their enemies. 

9. To remove any reference to terms like "diversity," "equality" and "inclusion" from our mission statements and policy manuals.

10. To promote long prison terms for offenders as the primary way to keep our communities safe.

Question: In what way will adherence to the above beliefs be a part of God’s Final Exam?

An Inspiring Recovery Story: 8/29/25 DN-R Justice Matters Column

Emily Bartley, a former resident of Gemeinschaft
Home's Women's House, is now devoting her life to 
helping others in recovery. 

Peer Support Is Vital For Successful Reentry and Recovery

Reentering the community after more than a year in jail was terrifying. My addiction to methamphetamines had cost me everything, including the custody of my daughter. The thought of facing recovery alone felt daunting and near impossible. Isolated and scared, I was ready to give up.

Yet in that dark place, a shift began, a realization that I had a purpose. 

My journey from incarceration to my current role at Strength in Peers is more than my story; it is a testament to the power of peer support and the hope I carry for others.

I needed help reentering the community because I had lost everything. I walked out of Rockingham Harrisonburg Regional Jail with only the clothes I was wearing when I was arrested. I first began to build my support system at the Women’s Gemeinschaft Residential program and through them I found out about other support groups and resources in the area. 

The support I found in reentry programs in the Harrisonburg community was crucial to my journey, as I began to find my footing and a new sense of compassion for others. My own recovery became the foundation for my current role, where I now use my lived experience to provide empathetic guidance to others who are walking a similar path. I started as an intern, and after becoming a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist, was offered a full-time position providing one-on-one peer support services primarily to people experiencing homelessness and who have recently been released from incarceration. Seeing my own journey come full circle from needing help to providing it motivates me to continue offering a safe place to those who feel as lost as I once did.

My personal journey has given me a deep understanding of the barriers people face when they reenter the community from incarceration, and I use my experience navigating community services and overcoming challenges to help the people I serve. At Strength in Peers we offer a wide range of services for those coming out of incarceration, including help  with obtaining vital records, applying for employment, and securing public benefits. These services provide a practical foundation, but the true power lies in the peer-to-peer connection. 

I have witnessed countless individuals turn their lives around, but one participant’s journey stands out. This person came to Strength In Peers after spending over a year at Rockingham Harrisonburg Regional Jail, the same jail I was in. They were familiar with our organization after attending some of the peer-led substance use recovery groups that we offer there. Over the past eight months, I have had the privilege of watching him rebuild his life. He has found stable employment and housing since his release, and has worked hard at rebuilding relationships that were broken with his family and friends during his addiction and to build a support network for himself from nothing. The anxiety that once defined him has slowly given way to a quiet confidence.

He is now approaching his two-year sobriety milestone and has even applied for an internship to become a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist. Seeing someone find the hope thatmwas lost in his addiction is an incredibly powerful experience and I am grateful to be a part of it. This work is more than just providing resources; it is about walking beside someone on their journey, sharing mutual experiences and reminding them that a different life is possible.

My journey from incarceration to becoming a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist has taught me that recovery is not a linear path, and that it looks different for everyone. The greatest lesson I have learned, both for myself and the participants that I work with, is that a strong support system is key. So my work at Strength in Peers is more than just a job; it is a testament to the hope that a person’s darkest moments can lead to their greatest purpose. The hope I give to others strengthens my own recovery, a continuous journey of growth and service. I am living proof that with the right support, it is possible to not only survive the challenges of reentry but to thrive and help others find their way, too.

- Emily Bartley is a former client of Strength in Peers and now offers help to others as a full time Peer Support Recovery Specialist at 917 North Main Street.

Why We May Love Collecting 'Brown Stamps'

Back in the '60's and 70's many merchants offered green stamps with every purchase, one for every dime on your receipt. Books of stamps could be redeemed for all kinds of cool products from the Sperry & Hutchinson gift catalogue.

I once heard Garrison Keillor describe some people as being afflicted with a unique kind of Alzheimers, one that causes them to "forget everything but their grievances."

Too many of us find ourselves failing to count our blessings and instead collecting what we might call "brown stamps," mental records all of the perceived wrongs we have suffered throughout our unfortunate lives. As convinced victims, we believe I a debt for which we deserve payments that are long overdue. That sense of being owed gives us a feeling of power we may otherwise feel we lack.

By contrast, if we register all of their many gratitudes in our mental bookkeeping we see ourselves as owing the world--and our Creator--a debt we can never fully repay. That represents a kind of power and a motivation of a positive kind.

So much depends not on our circumstances but on our bookkeeping.

I'm not an accountant, and sometimes even have trouble keeping track of my bank balance, but I at least know that the difference between having an overdrawn account and a viable one. It's all about whether I regularly make more deposits than I do withdrawals.

In a similar way, the difference between mental wellness and mental misery is whether our assets are seen as exceeding our liabilities, our credits exceeding our debits.

The good news is that our circumstances don't have to be perfect, nor do all the people in our lives need to behave has they should. Many won't, but we need to have enough positive experiences and life-giving connections with God and with others that more than make up for what is negative in our lives.

Again, a lot of that has to do with our record keeping, and whether we are mostly collecting green stamps or brown stamps.

Are there times when we need to lament, mourn, repent, and/or grieve? Absolutely. We need to set aside times to name and fully experience our pain and our losses in order to experience much needed catharsis and ongoing healing.

There is a time for everything, but the majority of our time needs to be focused on the good stuff. 

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"In conclusion, my friends, fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable."

Philippians 4:8 (Good News translation)

https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2025/07/for-quality-relationships-practice-41.html

On Not Taking Our Daily Bread For Granted

Granddog Benson savors the last morsel from his dish.

When our middle son gave me instructions recently about feeding their family's black lab while they were away, he told me about one of his strange behaviors. "When I put food in his dish," he said, "he waits for me to give him verbal permission before wolfing it down."

What a thoughtful dog, I thought, taking a moment to acknowledge his dependence on his master for his meals.

Humans could learn from Benson. In the German language our family spoke when I was growing up, essen meant people eating a meal whereas fressen was typically used for animals devouring their hay, grain or other food, Or we might jokingly use the word to describe a fellow human "eating like a pig."

Taking a moment before a meal to express gratitude to our Creator for the food we're so dependent on seems like an appropriate practice. It could be also be a good time to show some appreciation for the hard labor so many from all over have put into planting, tending, harvesting and making our food available to us.

As someone has observed, every morsel of a plant or animal that gives us life has had to give up its life for our sake, which means every meal could be thought of as a kind of eucharist for the soul as well as nourishment for the body.

In an odd way, maybe even Benson seems to get that.

Countless Trucks Are Bringing Needed Food--But Not Just To Gaza

One of numerous trucks supplying the "food distribution center" at the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community. 

We've all been shocked by photos of hundreds of eighteen wheelers lined up to bring desperately needed food to Gaza. There's something about this that seems unsustainable and unacceptable. Surely the world can't keep up this kind of effort and on such a scale.

But on second thought I reflected on the multitude of trucks on US highways and interstates bringing in exotic foods our more affluent communities feel entitled to. In the past century we've gone from shopping at  modest size family-operated grocery stores to having huge supermarket chains like A & T, Krogers and Safeway appearing in every community, accompanied by the need for ever more trucks to keep them stocked. 

Prior to that, the majority of food items on US tables were either home grown or were harvested, milled and marketed within relatively short distances. Ships and railroads of course brought in more varied fare over time but from the 1920's to the 2020's the US saw huge changes in food production and marketing that have required major expansions in the trucking industry. So both conditions of extreme poverty and of excessive wealth have created an over dependence on planet-polluting systems of truck transportation.

According to one Israeli source, an average of 73 food and aid trucks were brought into the Gaza Strip daily before the war for its two million people, many of them already having lived in refugees camps for decades. As a result of the unimaginable devastation inflicted by Israel's military, UN agencies estimate that 500-600 trucks are now needed daily to meet even the most basic needs of Gaza's population. Fewer than half that many are currently being allowed in, however, according to the Los Angeles Times and other sources.

Let's urge individuals and nations everywhere to renounce war and engage in just, sustainable and compassionate ways of seeing that everyone on earth has enough to eat.

This is a view of Gaza today, looking much like the aftermath of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing.

Trillions For “Defense” Will Not Save Us

 

The combined military spending of the world's
nations is staggering--and immoral. 

"The regenerated do not go to war, or engage in strife. They are the children of peace, who have beaten their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and they know no war. Since we are conformed to the image of Christ, how then can we kill our enemies with the sword? Spears and swords made of iron we leave to those, alas, who consider human blood and swine’s blood as having well nigh equal value."    

- sixteenth-century reformer Menno Simons

According to The Visual Capitalist, combined spending worldwide for military purposes reached $2.7 trillion in 2024. The U.S., with less than 5% of the world’s population, increased its spending by 5.7% last year, to a staggering total of $997 billion. Much of that spending is money borrowed from future generations.

By comparison, China, with a population of over four times our own, spent $314 billion, and Russia $149 billion. 

While estimates vary, the cost of eradicating world hunger, homelessness and preventable deaths from lack of medical care would be far less than we are currently spending on ever more deadly means of destruction. We can only dream of what such investments could do to help bring about world peace and stability.

I find it disheartening that even some of my Christian-minded friends support acts of massive destruction and human butchery by nations they favor, seeing it as a kind of necessary evil committed by a more innocent party. Thus "lesser evil-ism” becomes a justification for actions that are morally unjustifiable no matter who engages in them or for whatever reason, just as we would no longer defend torture, cannibalism, or slavery.

Yet we continue to see desirable ends as justifying whatever regrettable means necessary to achieve them. Maiming and murdering men, women and even innocent children, along with destroying their homes and means of livelihood are seen as forms of “self defense” or as necessary for eliminating an evil enemy. Citizens on both sides firmly believe their cause is just, and that whatever barbaric acts they engage in are therefore justifiable, right and divinely approved.

But if the vision and teaching of Jesus and the prophets were to be taken seriously, we would urge every nation in the world to beat their military swords into plowshares, and to study war no more. If humanity is to survive we must all stop rationalizing irrational and genocidal behavior. 

Unsurprisingly, no application of so called "just war" principles has ever been known to actually prevent a war. Not a single one. Not ever . And when it comes to "war crimes," it's high time that we rule out war itself as the most heinous crime imaginable.

Jesus consistently taught and demonstrated what it means to defeat evil by doing good rather than inflicting harm. When his disciples asked him to call down fire from heaven to destroy their Samaritan enemies, Jesus rebuked them in no uncertain terms. And when one of them drew his sword in Jesus's defense his response was swift and clear: “Put your sword away. Those who wield the sword will perish by it.”

Even if we set religious and moral reasons aside, a total rejection of war as evil is not some utopian fantasy, but absolutely necessary for human survival.

2024/https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2023/03/will-more-war-help-bring-about-more.html

https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-sword-in-romans-13-is-for.html

Seven Retirement Blessings I'm Grateful For

I hope to keep on growing in the remaining chapter of my
life here in Park Village at the Virginia Mennonite
Retirement Community.

The following are just a few of the many blessings I enjoy these days:

1. The pleasure of leisure time for working the soil, nurturing plants, pulling weeds and harvesting produce from our smallish 10' x 60' vegetable garden.

2. Having more time to read books, take a leisurely nap, write a blog, and/or engage in community work on criminal justice and other issues I care about.

3. Enjoying more quality time with Alma Jean, my spouse and soulmate of 61 years.

4. Occasional morning coffee and conversation with friends at the Main Street Cafe on our VMRC campus.

5. Sharing kitchen times for baking bread and for making vegetable stews, oatmeal pancakes and caramel puddings.

6. Doing crossword puzzles and other fun things with my wife and with some of our beloved grandchildren.

7. Still being able to meet some clients as needed one day a week at the Hometown Pastoral Counseling Group in Dayton.

God is good. All the time.

In 1492, Columbus Landed On Ayita (now Haiti)

I found this book by Pulitzer prize
winning author especially revealing 
regarding US policy toward Haiti.

I was intrigued by a reference in Garry Wills book about Thomas Jefferson's refusal, as a citizen of a southern slaveholding state, to recognize the revolutionary new black government of Haiti during his presidency. This added to my curiosity about how that long standing policy, unchanged until 1862, may have affected Haiti's ill-fated history. 

As background, the island on which Haiti is located is where Christopher Columbus planted the first European flag and lay claim to land long inhabited by a native Taino and Arawakan people.The French later built a large settlement there in the 18th century and established huge plantations employing slave labor. As a result the French profited from enormous amounts of indigo, cotton and raw sugar exports, according to Wikipedia, and by the end of the century were involved in a third of the entire Atlantic slave trade.

Then in 1791, not long after the US colonies successfully gained independence from the English crown, slaves staged the successful Haitian Revolution. In its aftermath as many as 5000 French occupiers, men, women and children, were brutally massacred.

Meanwhile, Jefferson endorsed the formal recognition of the new French Republic after the 1792 revolution that overthrew the monarchy of Louis XVI. This resulted in the massacres of well over three times as many French as died in the aftermath of the Haitian uprising.

According to Wills, Timothy Pickering, a former Secretary of War and later a senator from Massachusetts, decried the double standard Jefferson applied to the two nations, one led by white Europeans and the other by black former slaves, as follows:

Dessalines is pronounced by some to be a ferocious tyrant; but whatever atrocities may have been committed under his authority have been surpassed, have they equalled in their nature (for in their extent they are comparatively nothing), those of the French Revolution, when "infuriated men were seeking," as you once said,. through blood and slaughter" their long lost liberty? ...If Frenchmen, who were more free than the subjects of any monarchs in Europe, the English excepted, could find in you the apologist for cruel excesses of of which the world has furnished no example, are the hapless, the wretched Haitians ("guilty indeed of skin not colored like our own), emancipated by a great national act and declared free--are they, after enjoying freedom for many years, having maintained it in arms, resolved to live free or die; are these men not merely to be abandoned to their own efforts but to be deprived of those necessary supplies which for a series of years, they have been accustomed to receive from the United States and without which they cannot subsist? (Wills, p.44)

To be clear, as a follower of Jesus I do not support armed violence of any kind by any individual or any nation, but this does raise the question of how a more just US foreign policy may have led to a different Haiti than the unimaginably dysfunctional and impoverished one we see today. 

And to what extent might ethnicity or skin color still affect our relationships with other nations?