Letters to the editor

Mennonite Brethren Herald welcomes your letters on issues relevant to the Mennonite Brethren Church, especially in response to material published in the Herald. Please keep your letters courteous, brief and about one subject only. We will edit letters for length and clarity. We will not publish letters sent anonymously, although we may withhold names from publication at the request of the letter writer and at our discretion. Publication is also subject to space limitations. Because the Letters column is a free forum for discussion, it should be understood that letters represent the position of the letter writer, not necessarily the position of the Herald or the Mennonite Brethren Church. Send letters to: Letters, MB Herald 1310 Taylor Ave. Winnipeg, Man.  R3M 3Z6 or send via e-mail. (Please ensure that your postal address is included in your e-mail correspondence.)

A haze of jargon

Re “Gathering 2006 report book” (Apr. 28). Am I alone in wondering who will read the conference reports? I read, rubbed my eyes, but there was still a haze of jargon preventing me.

When the translators of the King James Bible began their work just 400 years ago, they were punctiliously instructed about clarity. Being a testament from the King of Kings to the king, the language had to be clear. That’s why we loved to quote and memorize it. What an enormous blessing that clarity of language has been.

Bill Redekop,
North Vancouver, B.C.

A better song

Thank you for your excellent publication. Having studied for many years in the U.S., I was always grateful to find the new Herald in the seminary library. The magazine helped me feel connected with my family, my denomination, and my country, and more than once, served as a helpful resource in my academic work.

The following is an amusing little story about Sunday school music and a misunderstanding I had with my three-year-old niece. One afternoon at the piano bench, Alyssa taught me a few Sunday school songs, and I taught her a few I knew. Nearing the end of my limited repertoire, we began repeating the day’s favourites.

“Play a better song!” Aly pleaded. Uh oh. What’s better – Jesus loves me or Deep and wide?

“No!” she cried in earnest, “A better song!”

Her parents were gone for the weekend, and I was at a loss to understand. “Dear me, child,” I thought. “What do you want? Something from Handel? Gott ist die Liebe? A hearty doxology?”

Nope. What the child wanted was this, the Better Song: “God’s love is better, better than a sale where ya buy one and get one free, God’s love is better, better ’cause he died for me.”

Karmen Krahn,
Swift Current, Sask.