Remembering For Years, Remembering With Tears--Alicia Showalter Reynolds

Alicia Faye Showalter Reynolds 8/5/70-3/2/96

Just over 25 years ago, Alicia Showalter Reynolds, a doctoral student at Johns Hopkins and recently married to her beloved Mark, was abducted and killed by an assailant who flagged her down along Rt. 29 near Culpepper, convincing her that something was wrong with her vehicle. Her body was found over nine weeks later in a secluded wooded area. 

Alicia, who was on her way to join her mother for some shopping in Charlottesville in preparation for her brother's wedding, was never seen alive again, and the case has yet to be definitively resolved.

As a long time acquaintance of her grieving parents, Harley and Sadie Showalter (who now are our neighbors at Park Village), I wrote the following lament at the time of Alicia's memorial service. Her mother Sadie read it as a part of a moving account she gave recently of their grief at our weekly neighborhood coffee hour at Village Hall:

Guest post: Our Pursuit Of Class, Comfort And Convenience Limits Our Compassion

Fleeing Myanmar for an uncertain future in Bangladesh. 

Peter Reimer, a retired teacher from Manitoba, Canada, recently wrote the following response to something I wrote, which I post here with his permission:

As Christian Anabaptist Mennonites we like to perceive ourselves as being a compassionate people, however we have a complicated relationship with compassion. 

Joan Swart (South African psychologist) indicates that compassion includes the ability to see clearly the nature of suffering, and that we aspire to transform that suffering by engaging in activities to alleviate the pain of others. It seems like when we suffer personally, then we are able to see and respond to the suffering of others with compassion. When we live in relative ease and comfort, then we have more difficulty empathizing and responding to others' dilemma. 

This seems to be evident in a new book forthcoming by Mary S. Sprunger (EMU) titled, "From Communalism to Capitalism: Mennonites and Money in the Early Dutch Republic." The Anabaptist communalism of the Schleitheim Confession era (1527) was relatively short-lived as Mennonites in the Netherlands became enamored with the rise of the Dutch mercantilism which ultimately resulted in the full-fledged capitalism we know today. By 1661 Thieleman von Bracht was rewriting the Martyrs Mirror as an indictment of the evils of the Mennonite pursuit of wealth and empire. The compassion of communalism dissipated with the lure of capitalism. 

Aside from the lure of wealth and material comfort, our ability to be compassionate may be hindered by religion itself. In "My Brother's Keeper," Saslow, Willers, & Fernberg of the University of California at Berkeley cite findings which indicate that "religiosity moderated (weakened) the relationship between compassion and prosocial behavior" (generosity), and that less religious persons were more likely to be and act compassionately towards others than more religious persons. 

This seems counterintuitive at first, however perhaps our religiosity produces a certain contented lethargy of inaction which inhibits us from acting on initial feelings of compassion. Perhaps religion does inhibit compassionate action, however perhaps too, religion could address both the capitalistic inclinations of Anabaptist Mennonites as well as the zealousness of our religiosity by our following the injunction of someone we claim to know well who said "sell all you have and give it

Note: Here are links to two contradictory studies regarding the claim that religious people are less compassionate:

https://www.alternet.org/2013/02/busting-myth-christians-are-more-generous-non-believers/

https://patriotpost.us/articles/66595-conservatives-are-happier-more-generous-than-liberals-2019-11-06

Annual Walk For Refugee Relief This Sunday!

 This year we are again inviting people to join a fundraiser Walk for Mennonite Central Committee refugee relief programs this Sunday. A map will be provided for a two-mile loop (or shorter if you prefer) in downtown Harrisonburg, with two pause and reflect stations on the way. 

Please enlist your friends and family members to join you and to help sponsor this event. Last year's Walk brought in over $!4,000 as a part of the Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale's "Sharing Our Surplus" (SOS) efforts to raise monetary support for urgent and ever growing needs around the world.

Refugees fleeing, famine, war, persecution and adverse climate and weather events must often walk for days or even weeks in search of refuge. We can show our support by doing all we can to help relieve their suffering. And here's a link you can share on Facebook and elsewhere: 

https://www.facebook.com/RefugeeSOS

Myanmar refugees walking for days on their way to Bangladesh.

A Gratifying Little Backyard Benefit For MCC

Auctioneers Linford Berry and Kervin Yoder taking bids
on a mirror. (photo by Joe Peachey)

While no fundraising records were set at the pre-Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale event held at our house Saturday, around 75 friends, neighbors and relatives helped us net  $1658.50 for Mennonite Central Committee refugee relief.* The weather was ideal, we found a new home for a lot of our things, and everyone seemed to enjoy a good time.

Our special thanks to neighbors and friends Keith Braddock, Jacob Hill, Marv Nisly, Craig Peterson, Guy and Margie Vlasits and others who helped us get things set up and organized. And thanks to our son Brent and grandsons Ian and Keaton for serving hotdogs, snack packs and cold drinks. And we so appreciate everyone who bought items sold at auction and who made generous donations for things they picked up from six tables of free items.

Nothing would have gone smoothly and efficiently without the generous help of Kervin Yoder with Yoder Auctions of Stuarts Draft and Linford Beery and wife Judith and daughter Lanette of Mountain View Auctions of Dayton. For a fraction of what they would normally earn, they provided invaluable help with details, offered the use of their tables, posted on free auction sites, and took care of issuing bidding cards and collecting payments. We highly recommend their services.

Thanks also to Les Horning who staffed a table with information on Mennonite Central Committee and Dave Rush, chair of the all volunteer Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale organization who, with Lydia Mussleman, of the Relief Sale's Sharing Our Surplus (SOS) Committee, took care of the donations received for the free items.

Appropriately, Dave's bid car number was selected at random for the appreciation prize at the end of the sale, a free weekend for two at MCC's Welcoming Place Village at their headquarters in Akron, PA, in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country. 

Sincere thanks to everyone who helped make this happen. While we wish more would have attended, and we could have raised even more money, the auction seemed a better alternative than 1) simply storing our stuff somewhere for our children to take care of later, 2) making multiple more trips to the landfill and to thrift stores, or 3) having the headache of yard sales and/or posting things on ebay or craigslist.

We feel relieved having this final step behind us, and would likely do it all over again. And should you to ever do anything like this for an organization like Mennonite Central Committee, we'll try to be there.

Sola de gloria.

* 8/23/21 UPDATE: A generous supporter who could not attend the sale just contributed an additional $2000!

NOTE: Another pre-Relief Sale event sponsored by the same Sharing Our Surplus (SOS) Relief Sale Committee will be a Fundraiser Walk from Community Mennonite Church at 6 pm this Sunday, August 29. Last year's Walk raised over $14,000 for refugee relief. See https://www.facebook.com/RefugeeSOS

Seeker Of The Light--Reflections On The Life Of Allan W. Shirk 3/12/42--7/31/21

A historian and a history teacher, Allan Shirk's first book was the
story of the man who created the first self-tying baler in Allans
hometown of New Holland.

Allan Shirk, beloved husband of Alma Jean's younger sister Ruth Ann, died just six weeks after having been diagnosed with an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer. He always lit up any room he entered, and will be terribly missed by all of us. 

Here is the moving tribute shared at his memorial service by Todd Friesen, one of the pastors of the East Chestnut Mennonite Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where Allan was an active member:
 
Two weeks ago, several of us gathered in a circle around Allan’s hospice bed, joined hands with him, and prayed for God’s traveling mercies as he moved ever more fully into the light of God.
 
We remembered the words of Jesus: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness…but will have the light of life.” A light that, as we heard in the scripture text today, is stronger than any darkness.
 
This theme of moving into God’s light was a great comfort and solace to Allan during his final 6 weeks of life, as his health declined rapidly after his cancer diagnosis. And the theme of seeking God’s light, I believe, is crucial to understanding who Allan was and how he lived his 79 years among us.
 
Before we look more at Allan’s life, let’s just remember what a central theme light is in the Bible, mentioned more than 200 times. Genesis opens with God saying: “Let there be light.” On Mt. Sinai, Moses’ face shines after entering the radiant cloud of God’s glory (Ex 24, 34). The accounts of Jesus’ resurrection are all radiant with light as well.
 
Perhaps light is such a prominent theme in Scripture because it helps us begin to contemplate the great mystery of God. Because just like God, light is untouchable but real, overcomes darkness, makes vision possible, and gives life to all. And just like light, God permeates our lives.
 
These past couple weeks, I’ve often wished I’d been able to have a couple more heart-to-hearts with Allan. I’ve wondered: Was Allan such a seeker of God’s light because he and Ruth Ann experienced the deep darkness of grief and tragedy so early in their lives together…with the loss of their first daughter Jennifer, in a car accident caused by a drunken driver?
 
After their move to Oregon that followed, Allan often found solace in the beauty and light of the ocean. His brother-in-law Glen remembers how “he would sit [on the beach], watching the ebb and flow of the waves. Slowly, the waves became special touches of God that contributed to Allan’s healing of deep sadness and grief.” 
 
In fact, throughout his life, Allan continued to focus on…and to seek…the light. One of the ways he did this, as we heard in his obituary, was by nurturing a deep life of prayer and contemplation with God in the morning, with a cup of coffee in hand and his journal nearby.
 
Both of his daughters also remember that another way their father paid attention to the light was though his love of photography. Melissa remembers how he would go around with his manual Canon camera seeking out “the perfect light.” Beverly says that through that lens he helped others to see what was beautiful—and sometimes overlooked—around them.
 
Allan also “sought the Light” by choosing, wherever he was, to be part of a faith community focused on following Jesus, the light of the world. A community where each of us can join our tiny flickering lights—so that together we’re able to shine with a light greater than our own—the light of Christ! In a sermon two years ago, he shared that he was deeply dedicated to our congregation, in spite of our obvious flaws and shadows.
 
And we all experienced this light in him—didn’t we?—whether from the twinkle in his eye, his loving kindness, teasing wit, or enjoyment of a good prank. He reflected God’s light wherever he was—as a teacher at Western Mennonite School and Lancaster Mennonite and LMS, as a good neighbor on Walnut Street, Kreider Avenue, or Sundrop Lane, a colleague at Longeneckers’ Hardware in Manheim, a dear member of this church, and a grandpa to his three beloved grandkids: Ethan, Owen, and Wynona.
 
When I think of Allan, a slightly paraphrased version 2 Timothy 4:7 comes to mind: Allan sought the light, he finished the race, and he kept the faith.
 
Let me close with a brief story. Early last month, in the midst of his declining health, Allan and Ruth Ann turned on the TV one night and—lo and behold—they came upon a concert by the Oak Ridge Boys, whom they’d seen at a fair in Salem, Oregon back in the 70s.
 
And when the Oak Ridge Boys launched into singing There Will Be Light, Allan & Ruth Ann both immediately knew they were sharing a “God moment” together. This song, Allan later told us, described the dark night they were experiencing and encouraged them to refocus their eyes on “the eternal city…where God is the source of all Light.”
 
And dear friends, it is into this marvelous Light that we are now releasing our dear Allan today.
 
When the world is dark
As a moonless night
There will be light

And when you see
No hope in sight
There will be light
 
Joy comes with the morning
And outshines the darkest of nights
So hold on till the morning
There will be light

Amen.

A Backyard Benefit Auction For Refugee Relief

Thanks to Mountain Valley Auctions of Dayton and
Yoder Auctions of Stuarts Draft for helping with this.

Time: 12:30-2:30 pm Saturday, August 21

Location: 1135 Hamlet Drive, Rockingham, across the highway and a block north of Harmony Square Shopping Center.

Purpose: Dispose of things not needed at our new home (in Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community's Park Village) and to raise much needed funds for Mennonite Central Committee's worldwide relief efforts.

Plan: To provide tables with lots of free things on a donation basis as well as to raise money through the sale of furniture, kitchenware and a multitude of other household items at auction.

Food: Hotdogs, chips and cold drinks on a freewill offering basis.

Parking: Plenty of space in a number of nearby lots as well as at places of business along Highway 42, in addition to street parking along Hamlet Drive and Harman Road.

Door Prize: As a way of expressing appreciation for your support, everyone receiving a bidding number will be part of a drawing at the end of the sale for a special weekend getaway for two at the MCC Welcoming Place Visitors Village at its headquarters in Akron, PA, in the heart of Lancaster's Pennsylvania Dutch country.

Donations: All proceeds will help support the annual Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale through its SOS (Sharing Our Surplus) Committee, which helps raise money for MCC through direct cash, credit card and check gifts. Checks for donations or auction payments can be made to "Virginia Relief Sale" with SOS on the memo line. If you can't donate in person, you can contribute to this effort on the Relief Sale website.  https://vareliefsale.com/donate

Here's a link with more photos and information on the August 21 auction: 

https://www.mountainvalleyauctions.com/auctions/detail/bw67806

You are invited to visit, "like" and share the SOS Facebook page, which also includes information about a fundraiser Walk Sunday at 6 pm in Harrisonburg and other information about the growing refugee crisis around the world.

Thanks for your support. And for everyone's safety, thanks for observing mask guidelines.

Another Heartbreaking Parole Denial

One of the prisoners with whom I am in regular correspondence is Jonathan White, who has spent over 40 years behind bars and has been turned down for parole 18 times in spite of his many accomplishments, including the following:

• Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology from Liberty University

• Associate in Arts and Science Degree in education from Paul D. Camp Community College

• Career Studies Degree in supervision from Paul D. Camp Community College

• Advance HVAC/R Technicians Certificate, Penn Foster Technical Training Program

• Climate Control HVAC/R Trade Completion Certificate, Commonwealth University

• Universal EPA HVAC Certifications 608, 609 and 410A , ESCO Training Services

• OSHA Construction Safety and Health Certifications

• National Association of Home Builders Basic Principles of Construction Certificate

• Blood Borne Pathogen Safety Training Certificate, Commonwealth of Virginia

• Cook - Journeyman Certification, Commonwealth of Virginia

• Custom Shoemaker - Journeyman Certification, Commonwealth of Virgini

• Industrial Sewing Machine Repair - Certification, Commonwealth of Virginia

• Wastewater Operations Training, Sacramento California Wastewater School

• Lithographic Computerized Digital Training, Commonwealth of Virginia

He has also taken an active part in the following:

• Alcoholics Anonymous

• Substance Abuse education

• Anger Management

• Advanced Anger Management

• Sex Offender Counseling and Therapy - SOPAC

• Breaking Barriers

• Life Skills

• Productive Citizenship

• Commitment to Change

• Christian Fellowship Services (leadership in worship and community services)• Speaker for Steer Straight (teen and youth crime prevention service)

In addition, Mr. White has been infraction free throughout his incarceration, with no new convictions or crimes on his record, and has earned favorable recommendations for parole from prison staff and commendations for rendering helpful assistance to them in critical situations. He has also received numerous recommendations from community supporters willing to assist him in the transition to reentry to the community and in maintaining conditions of parole.

In his own words:

The Virginia Parole Board's responsibility is "to release on parole those persons who are considered suitable for release and who will not present a risk to the community."

     I have met these criteria of suitability. My life is forever changed from the failures of my past youthful wrong decisions, and I have been sufficiently punished for the crimes for which I have been convicted and incarcerated.

     To everyone who has been affected by my past actions in life, victims, family, friends, associates and community, I humbly apologize to each of you. I am sorry for any hurt or pain and suffering I have caused to anyone as a result of my actions.

     Respectfully, I seek the privilege of parole at this time. I am deserving of a second chance in living my life as a responsible, productive, law-abiding citizen of the Commonwealth, and I fully acknowledge my responsibility to uphold this granted privilege.

     I want to be a success story of which you can be proud. Most people in my situation become very bitter here because of the injustices they have to endure.  Prison life is a major hardship, and when a person loses everything worth living for, such as mother, father, friends and status in society, it is hard to hold on to the sanity of doing right regardless of circumstances. But I thank God for redeeming my life when all others have abandoned me to these prison walls.

Jonathan Darryl White #1161021 - INM#128952

Augusta Correctional Center

1821 Estaline Valley Road

Craigsville, VA 24430

This is his latest note, sent July 28, 2021:

I just received another denial for release. The decision was rendered on July 22, 2021 for the following reasons:

*crimes committed

*serious nature and circumstances of your offense(s)

*the Board considers you to be a risk to the community

*the Board concludes that you should serve more of your sentence prior to release on parole.

Also they decided both my regular and geriatric parole at the same time. Which does not permit me the opportunity file such in a separate petition. I will appeal this answer because I truly do not believe that none of the answers (denials) here at ACC are deserving to any of us "old law" offenders. Now, I have a new CMC and she feels that most of the Boards decisions lately have been influenced by the previous actions of the Vincent Martin case as well. These reasons are based on a persons crime(s) and there sentence. None of this is based upon the content of the persons overall life changes.

Thank you for your prayers and assistance along this journey and I still remain hopeful that my life will not end in this hell on earth.

Keep me in your prayers...

Peace & Love,

Jonathan

Here's a link to send messages to the Parole Board: https://vpb.virginia.gov/contact/

Unraveling The Riddle Of The Revelation

Albrecht Dürer's portrayal of the fearsome Beast
and the deceptive False Prophet of  the Revelation

The last book of our Bible, the Revelation (or Apocalypse), means "unveiling," but contains collages of images and symbols that may seem anything but revealing. Like parts of Daniel and Ezekiel, it is written in the genre of apocalyptic literature that was common to readers in the first century, involving cosmic themes of worldwide crisis, war between good and evil and of God's final judgment and triumph. 

The author writes this from the island of Patmos in the Mediterranean, a barren penal colony to which people were exiled who were seen as criminals or as a threat to the Roman empire. John, a Jewish follower of Jesus who refers to himself simply as a "servant" and a "brother," was likely the person we know as one of the twelve disciples, and was an influential overseer of numerous congregations in Asia Minor. He wrote this during a time when Christians were being persecuted for refusing to take part in a required form of emperor worship that involved token sacrifices and the simple pledge, "Caesar is Lord." By contrast, the Christian pledge of allegiance was "Jesus is Lord."

In a time of persecution this use of symbolic and code language was likely deliberate, but almost certainly made more sense to John's first century readers than they do to most of us today (though we are used to political cartoons, for example, that use images and figures that are symbolic in nature).

Here are four categories of symbols we find in the book:

1) heavenly: living creatures, elders, thrones, scrolls, crowns, stars, candlesticks, etc.

2) demonic: dragons, serpents, beasts, Babylon, the Great Harlot, etc.

3) political: bears, lions, horses, beasts, Babylon, etc. 

4) numerical: numbers such as as 3, 4, 12, 24, 1000, 144,000 and the often used number 7 (associated with completeness, wholeness or perfection) obviously have meanings other than purely mathematical ones. The number 3 1/2 (or "a time and times and half a time") seems to suggest a half way point in human history. The numbers 6 and 666 represent things evil, false and counterfeit, close to the perfect number 7 but incomplete and misleading. The number 12 suggests the people of God in the first covenant, as in 12 tribes, and in the second, for the 12 apostles.

While much of the book may seem dark and ominous, it is far more than just being about future judgment. Much of Christian worship is based on the kinds of exalted praise language found in this "hymnal of heaven" that contains seven great psalms of gratitude, with many containing seven praiseworthy attributes of God. 

Clearly this is a book to be read and savored with a keen sense of spiritual imagination, but also as an indictment against evil forces at work in the world both in the first century and in our own. See https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2017/03/a-demonic-trinity-of-evil-nationalism.html 

From Hamlet to Hawthorne--A Truly Moving Experience

 

Our apartment unit is in Virginia Mennonite Retirement
Community's Park Village, sandwiched between the garages
that belong to our next door neighbors.

After enjoying 33 years in a three-bedroom home on Hamlet Drive we've just spent our first night at our new address at 1540 Hawthorne Circle, just a half mile away.

As new members of a retirement village we are adjusting to a community that is definitely more quiet and slow paced, with no farm trucks or noisy traffic driving by, and where everyone seems to turn in for the night by the time it gets dark. While we don't yet consider ourselves fully retired, we're sure our good neighbors will teach us a lot about how to live well in this closing chapter of our lives.

And what a welcoming community this is! A flower arrangement with kind notes from several VMRC administers greeted us upon arrival, and all of their staff have been far beyond helpful in attending to our every need. And VMRC refurbished our unit with new carpet, trim, doors, appliances and other amenities far beyond our expectations or wishes. We're just not used to living at this kind of upscale level.

On moving day, our house church friends Lois and Elly brought pizza, drinks, snacks  and a vegetable tray, and our realtors, Kara and LaDawn, surprised us with a bouquet of flowers and enough sandwiches and other delicacies for many a future meal. Later yesterday some old friends who are now among our new neighbors, Harley and Irene, brought us more flowers and still more food!

We've also been blessed with great support from our daughter in Rochester who came to help us get ready for our move, and from our Pittsburgh-based son who was a great co-organizer on our last two moving days. Our other wonderful son and his interior decorator wife have also been incredibly helpful in getting our Hamlet house ready to sell and helping us get organized and situated here at Hawthorne.

Many thanks, too, to church friends Lewis and Mary Ellen and to our friend Guy and many other  neighbors and members of our church family who have helped us stay mostly sane and well supported through this process. 

This is will make the seventh home Alma Jean and I have lived in since our marriage  57 years ago this August 8. Each house holds special memories, and we're sure this one will as well. 

May our next move be our last and best, and our next home our forever shabbat (rest).