June 13 was the first anniversary of this blog, a milestone that suggests a need to reflect on what I am doing here and where I want to go.

As a side note, June 13 was also the date of our daughter’s fourteenth wedding anniversary.  That is an event much more worthy of celebration.  It brought a wonderful young man into the family as son-in-law and brought our daughter from far away Arkansas to within a couple miles of us in Saskatchewan.  And it has brought us four unique and charming grandchildren.  That is a far greater accomplishment than my scribblings over the past year.

Nevertheless, for years I have been carrying around in my head things that I wanted to write about.  It seemed for a long time that I was more talented in dreaming and procrastinating than in actually writing.   Some things did get written over the years, some notes were made, but so much was left unsaid.

So much is still unsaid.  Perhaps the question to ask myself is why do I feel they need to be said?  As someone who discovered the Anabaptist / Mennonite faith in my early adult years, I feel I have a perspective that can be helpful to those both within and without Anabaptist / Mennonite circles.

As I studied the historic Anabaptist faith, I found it to embody a spiritual vitality and authenticity that was lacking in other churches with which I was acquainted.  This faith, by itself, is accessible to anyone, anywhere.  Unfortunately, this faith has become encrusted with the barnacles of a centuries old Germanic Mennonite culture, which is not accessible to anyone not born in that culture.   This culture has some attractive features, as well as some attributes that appear rather strange to an outsider.  It is much better if converts to the Mennonite faith do not feel a compulsion to also adopt the Mennonite culture, for the simple reason that such a thing is impossible and will lead to endless frustrations.

There it is; I think I have finally put into words my motivation in beginning this blog.  Call it my mission statement if you wish.

I want to thank all who have read and followed my posts over the past year.  Please bear with me as I try to clarify my thinking and streamline my writing in the coming months.  Your comments are always welcome.